


The Viennese waltz

by Spades_T



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: F/M, going off the manga
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:14:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 33,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21855889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spades_T/pseuds/Spades_T
Summary: Anastasia is the Undertakers (seemingly) normal assistant, but how will one child Earl and his devilish butler cause her to become entangled into the lives of the Queens guard dog and the British underground?This is sorta just me having fun and experimenting. Any feedback is welcome!(I did a ton of rewriting for this because I hated the OG, so if you read the "beta", no you didn't <3 )
Relationships: Sebastian Michaelis/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second ever fanfiction. I’m not a very good writer so any sort of feedback would help, thank you! Please enjoy! I’m sorta just trying to have some fun with this one.
> 
> Edit (9/28/2020): hello ladies and gentlemen! I am back, and I come with even better writing then before. Idk if it lets y'all know that I fixed everything but enjoy.

After being unable to find any clues or squeeze any good information out of Abberline, the small group leaves in search of more information on the crime elsewear.

“Now what dear?” Madame Red questions, trailing behind the young boy and his butler in front of her.

“Now we go see someone, who may prove to be useful.” Ciel answers with an air of mystery.

Lau exclaims in shock and slight horror, “my lord! you mean-“

“Yes indeed.” Ciel answers with a grimace.

They eventually come to a building, a small hole-in-the-wall shop with a sign out front reading: Undertaker.

“So.” Lau smiles serenely, looking slightly puzzled, “where are we?”

“You mean you dont know?!” Madame red exclaims. “Then what was all that about!”

Sebastian answers Lau calmly, ignoring the Madame’s bewildered remark, “its a funeral parlor, run by an acquaintance of my lords.”

“The Undertaker?” Madame red reads the sign aloud as the group of five walk into the shop.

The interior is foreboding and smells strangely of formaldehyde. A young woman sits at the counter and seems to be writing something in a notebook.

“Hello, welcome, how may I help yo-“ her soft voice trails off as she looks up and sees her guests, as her deep blue eyes land on Sebastian they narrow softly and she cuts herself off with low hum.

She turns her head to her right nonchalantly, “Undertaker, we have some guests.” The woman's head comes to rest in one of her hands in a bored fashion, and a lid from a nearby coffin creaks.

Madame red jumps with a squeak and the Undertakers laughter spills out of the now fully opened coffin. “Hello little Earl..” the man emerges from the coffin, smiling, “I see you’ve met my new lovely assistant~~” he gestures to the black haired woman who greeted them sitting at the table nearby.

The woman bows her head slightly with a pleasant smile, “sir.”

Ciel hums in acknowledgement, slightly suspicious of the new woman, and Sebastian passes an appraising eye over her seated figure.

The Undertaker suddenly grips Ciels chin in his sharply nailed fingers and turns the boy's gaze onto his face with a toothy grin, “‘ave you come to me for a coffin fittin’ at last my lord?” 

The boy narrows his eyes and shakes the older man off with disgust, “no, we’ve come for information, regarding the recent murders.”

The Undertaker chuckles with a smirk, “well you know the price for such information..”  
The man trails off with a grin and Lau suddenly perks up, “Ah! I see, so this is just a cover business!” he pulls out a small coin purse with a satisfied grin, “how much is it for information?”

The woman from before suddenly interjects with a secretive smile, “the Undertaker does not take coins for his services, sir.”

The man in question suddenly breaks out into a madman's grin, he grips Ciel by the shoulders, “you know my price young lord!” he starts drooling as though in ecstasy, “I require laughter! The ultimate bliss~~” 

Ciel shrinks away, perturbed, and Lau decides to cut in again, “If it's a joke you wish to hear, I’ve got one!” He grins stupidly and everyone turns to stare at him in expectation, “On what side does a tiger have its most stripes?” he doesn't wait for an answer before diving right in, “on the outside!”

Silence ensues and he laughs awkwardly, the Undertaker frowns and his assistant raises her eyebrows at the dry quip. Soon after Laus' failure, the Madame steps forward with a wide grin, “I am simply the best at telling stories, so I’m just going to knock your socks off!” 

She proceeds to tell a risque story that Sebastian covers Ciels ears for, and has the assistant giggling quietly behind her hand, which makes the madame puff up with pride.

Meanwhile the Undertaker practically yawns with boredom and the Madame flushes and huffs at the lack of reaction to her story from the man, before going to sulk with Lau over her failure. 

Sebastian suddenly lets out a long-suffering sigh, “I suppose I shall have to do this,” he begins to usher everyone outside despite his masters sputtering questions, “stay out here for the time being,” he throws them a foreboding glance, “and whatever you hear, do not come inside, under no circumstance.” the door slams shut behind him, leaving three shocked faces behind.

The butler turns around with a smirk, “Undertaker, I wasn’t aware you had the ability to acquire such an exotic…” he steps towards the assistant who hasn't moved an inch, “...pet.” his lips curl up at the word, and she scoffs, “pet?” she stands slowly to stand almost face to face with him, “if anything, out of the two of us you’re the pet.” she brings herself toe to toe with him and narrows her blue eyes dangerously.

“You’re nothing but a dog on a chain,” she crosses her arms and he chuckles darkly, “and what does that make you my lady?” her cheeks flush a small bit at the title he uses, “a dove, perhaps?” his sultry grin practically splits his face and she ignores his teasing with a glare.

The Undertaker breaks out into uncontrollable giggles, “ooh, you two are so fun.” his grin suddenly widens drastically, “oh! Just imagine…!” his next words are swallowed up by the howling laughter that escapes his mouth and practically shakes the rickety building. 

The group outside takes this as the signal to come in again, and by the time they make it inside the assistant is standing near her previous spot, her quick recovery aided by unnatural speed.

Sebastian smirks in self satisfaction and turns to his master, “I do believe he will tell us whatever we wish to know,” he gestures to the Undertaker, who is struggling for air and can barely stand even with the help of his assistant. 

“What did you do?” Madame red exclaims, with a shocked and slightly horrified expression.

Sebastian smirks with a hand over his heart, “well if I couldn’t do this much, what kind of butler would I be?”

Ciel rolls his eyes and mumbles under his breath, “...a normal one.”

This makes the assistant huff a bit of laughter under her breath, and Ciel scans her curiously with his eyes for a moment.

The Undertaker takes a seat on top of one of the lidded coffins nearby with her help, through gulps of hair he speaks, “Anastasia, would you please bring some tea?” 

The assistant nods and heads to a room in the back, and Sebastian's keen eyes follow her every move. ‘Anastasia,’ he lets the word swirl around his mind a bit, ‘how regal.’

“My last few customers have been..incomplete.” After the group settles in, the Undertaker addresses them as they sit in odd places around the room, some with beakers full of tea in their hands, that they seem hesitant to drink from. 

Ciel sets his drink down and raises an eyebrow, “incomplete?” 

The Undertaker grins, “yes, they all seem to have parts missing,” he bites down onto a bone shaped biscuit handed to him by his assistant, who sits next to him patiently, “they’re all missing their uterus.”

“The uterus?” Ciel mumbles, “why?”

Anastasia speaks for him, as the Undertaker stuffs his face with more biscuits, “The killer seems to take special pleasure in tearing the bodies apart, but the uterus is always removed with surgical precision, usually only expected in an expert.”

Sebastian raises his hand to his chin in thought, “so our murderer is most likely well acquainted with the medical field.”

She cuts in again with a nod, “or at the very least, has some medical knowledge.”

The Undertaker places down his biscuits with a giggle, and beckons for Anastasia to stand next to him, he gently grabs her by the throat, “first he slits their throat like this,” one sharp nail drags along her throat slowly, and her face remains serene, “and then he rips out the special part.” the Undertaker peers over her shoulder with a wild grin and gestures the area around her stomach.

Sebastian raises an eyebrow at this display and Ciel clears his throat with an uncomfortable grimace.

“He will definitely kill again,” the assistant crosses her arms, and the Undertaker returns to his biscuits, “killers like this one don’t stop until they are captured,” she suddenly smirks, “or killed..”

The Undertaker cackles, “would you be able to do that milord?” he grips Ciel by the shoulders and the boy scoffs, shrugging off the older man's hands, “I have already vowed on my family name and the queen,” the boy stands and Sebastian brings him his coat, “I will stop this killer, by any means necessary.”

Anastasia smirks openly at this and the undertaker giggles, “of course my lord, how valiant.”

As the conversation ends, Anastasia moves to open the door, the Undertaker watches them leave with a wide smile, “do come again Ciel, and bring that funny butler with you~~”.

“I quite like that Undertaker's assistant,” Madame red muses, as Grell helps her onto the carriage. Ciel hums in response, and Lau tucks his arms into his sleeves, “she’d make a very fine addition to my girls..” he trails off and stares into space for a bit with his smiling mouth open.

Madame red scoffs in disgust, “get your head out of the gutter!” 

Sebastian watches the exchange with a silent smile

“Our killer must be someone with medical knowledge.” Ciel muses as he attempts to change the direction of the conversation from the strange assistant.

“They also might have connections with the occult or underworld.” Sebastian adds, “We’ll have to make a suspect list.”

Madame red scoffs, “that’s going to be practically impossible, the seasons almost over and any doctors who might have followed the noble families here will be leaving very soon.” She throws up her hands in frustration, “it could take months!”

Ciel rolls his eyes and sighs, “Sebastian.”

The butler bows his head with a smirk, “yes my lord?”

“Create a suspect list and bring me the name of the most suspicious one.” the boy waves his hand in a dismissive way.

“Yes my lord.” Sebastian smiles and places a hand over his heart before opening the carriage door and-

“Does he not realize that we’re moving?!” Madame red exclaims in shock as he jumps out the side.

Grell opens the door to Ciels summer home sheepishly.  
“I cannot believe we got lost twice!” Madame red exclaims, “how is that possible?”

Grell frowns sadly and looks at his feet, “I’m so sorry Madame.”

Lau smiles lazily, “it’s all right, at least now we can relax with some tea before Sebastian-“

They spot Sebastian in the doorway, “welcome home,” he allows them to come in and takes their coats one by one, “I have gathered the list you requested, young master.”

“What the-!” Madame red is shocked, “how are you back so soon?”

Sebastian gives a closed eyed smile and places a hand over his heart before saying, “if I couldn’t do this much, what kind of butler would I be?”

She huffs in disbelief and gives him her hat, “there’s no way you could have created a list of everyone that fast.”

Sebastian grins before proceeding to list off a large portion of the names off the very long list in his hands, “Based off of these names I can deduce one suspect who seems to be the most fitting.” He rolls up the list dramatically with a snap, “The Viscount Druitt.”

Anastasia hums quietly as she cleans out the beakers that were used for tea a short while ago. The Undertaker fiddles with some unused medical equipment nearby, and she settles back into her seat to continue sketching the most recent ‘guests’ body.

Just as she starts to finish the last bit of shading on the bloody gashes running through the subjects skin, the Undertaker throws his arms around her shoulders lazily, “I’m almost done,” the man lets go with a smile and settles into the chair next to her.

“You know,” she glances up at him with a raised eyebrow, as his high pitched voice breaks her concentration, “I think the little earl may want some extra ‘elp with this one, hehe~~” the man rests his head on the table with a smile and she stops her sketching to search his face for a moment.

“...are you asking me to do something,” she sets her pencil down and he giggles, “think of it as a vacation, if you must~” 

She sighs, “how would helping a child solve a murder be a vacation?” she picks up her pencil again before he can answer, “and besides why would I want to spend time around that man?”

The Undertaker giggles again at her lack of description, and he suddenly grabs the sleeve of her dress after a moment and looks into her face, “oh please?~” 

She stares at him in shock, “are you begging of all pe-”

He cuts her off with a sharp giggle again, “I just think it would be the most hysterical thing ever!” a sharp cackle escapes his lips, “please? Just try it once? For me?”

He gives her his best pout and after a moment she sighs, “...fine.”

He shoots out of his seat with an ear splitting grin, “Yes!” his giggles resoud around the shop and he picks her up out of her seat, “you must leave now!”

“Wait!” she shouts as he drags her by the arm upstairs to pack her things.

“They must be a person who has some knowledge of surgery, an interest in the occult or black magic and is missing an alibi for the nights of the murders.” Sebastians smooth voice fills the room of the study, “the only person who matches this description completely is the Viscount Druitt.”

“The Viscount also happens to be hosting the supposed last party of the season in a few days.” Ciel comments as he sips his cup of tea, “That may be our only chance at catching him.”

He glances at his aunt, “do you think you could think of a way for us to be invited?”

She smiles haughtily and brushes her short hair over one of her shoulders, “well of course, I’m quite popular you know.”

Ciel grins over the rim of his cup of tea, “good. I will make it into that party, by any means necessary.”

The doorbell suddenly cuts through the peaceful silence in the study and Lau smiles, “I wonder who that is at this hour.”

Ciel throws him a wary glance and gestures for Sebastian, the butler bows his head, “I shall go check who it is.”

Downstairs, Sebastian opens the door to greet their unexpected guest, “ah! Miss Anastasia,” he leads her inside and throws her a salacious grin, “to what do I owe the pleasure.”

She rolls her eyes and hands him her coat, “I’ve come to speak with your master,” she sighs and crosses her arms, “the Undertaker seems to believe you will want my help.”

He smirks and bows to her, “well my dove, you’ve come just in time for tea,” he picks up her suitcase and gestures down the hall with an outstretched hand, “if you’ll follow me to the study.”

She blushes at his nickname and glares, before following his tall figure down the hall and into the study.

“Young master,” Sebastian addresses Ciel, who sits playing cards with Lau and Madame red, “The Undertaker's assistant has come.”

The boy raises an eyebrow at the woman, “is he in need of something?”

Anastasia bows her head slightly, “no, he just asked me to come along and offer my assistance sir.”

Ciel hums and looks her over, she stands tall and meets his gaze with unwavering blue eyes, “I suppose we could find something you can assist with…”

Madame red suddenly perks up, “you’ve come just in time to hear my marvelous plan!” she pats the empty part of the sofa next to her, “come and sit.”

Anastasia smiles at her, “thank you madame.”

As she sits down Sebastian interjects, “if you’ll all excuse me, I must put Miss Anastasia's things in her room.”

Ciel waves his hand dismissively and sets his cards down on the table, “what exactly do you do for the Undertaker,” he places a hand under his chin and observes Anastasia.

“Well,” she crosses her legs, “I’m more or less a secretary, but if he needs some assistance with the bodies, I am able to do so.” She meets the boy’s eyes calmly.

Madame red looks between them uncomfortably, “enough of this gloomy talk!” she chuckles nervously, “let us go back to our previous discussion,” she turns to Anastasia, “we were just saying that our best suspect is the Viscount Druitt.”

Anastasia hums at this, and Ciel sighs, “yes, and my aunt has formulated a brilliant plan to protect my identity.” obvious sarcasm drips from his voice and Anastasia has to stifle a smile.

“What is your plan?” she glances at the woman beside her who smiles with glee, “My cute little nephew can just dress up as a twice removed niece of mine,” she leans in close to Anastasia and whispers conspiratively, “some people say the Viscount will talk to any pretty thing in a skirt,” she suddenly gets up and squishes Ciel in a hug, “so I just know he will come straight to Ciel!”

Anastasia hides a smirk behind her hand as Ciel flails in his aunts hold, sputtering.

As Ciel struggles to escape, Sebastian returns and raises an eyebrow at the scene of his master struggling to escape his aunt's smothering hold. His eyes pass to Anastasia chuckling in her seat, her eyes meet his and she clears her throat. 

Ciel suddenly cries out, “Sebastian! Help me!” 

The demon chuckles at that and places a hand onto the Madames shoulder, “Madame, perhaps you should sit down.” the Madame smiles, “fine, I just can’t resist,” she pinches Ciels cheek, “you’re just too cute.”

“I think I know how I can be helpful,” Anastasia interjects with a devilish grin, that makes Ciel shiver in fear.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so if yall wanna see exactly what dress I was thinking of for Anastasia (because I'm literally obsessed with this dress) look up “yellow dinner dress emile pingat” its the very first one and its so pretty,,, anyways enjoy!

“I think we should choose pink,” Madame red holds a pink gown up to Ciel, who gapes in abject horror, “why pink?”

Anastasia sets down another dress box onto the table and smirks at the boy, “pink is a very girlish color.”

“Yes,” Madame red nods vigorously, and suddenly looks him up and down, “you know, we could probably get away with showing a bit of leg,” she leans in close to the boy and whispers, “you are still a bit young.” 

Ciel sputters and blushes, “That is not happening!” Anastasia hears the exchange and laughs openly at his discomfort, “oh don’t worry little Earl,” she brings another dress, green this time, “We’ll make sure you look nice and pretty.”

Lau holds up one of his ‘girls’ signature dresses, “I still think you should wear one of mine,” he smiles serenely as he strokes the silk cloth of the incredibly short dress, “then you’ll definitely catch the Viscounts eye.”

Anastasia chuckles as Madame red scoffs at the suggestion, and she leaves to get yet another dress to add to the growing pile that Madame red has collected from seemingly nowhere.

Madame red suddenly straightens up with something in her hands as soon as the other woman leaves, “now!” she snaps the fabric with a loud thwack sound, “how about we get you fitted for a corset.”

Ciel’s eyes gape wide at his aunt, “a corset? Nobody said anything about that!” 

Madame red rolls her eyes, “it’s not like it's going to kill you,” she reaches for him, “now come here.” he sprints away with a shout and Lau laughs at him from his seated spot at the desk nearby.

Wack!- the sound echoes over the ballroom and Ciel lets out a small yelp, “Goodness woman! Why are you so violent with that thing!”

Anastasia crosses her arms with a light smirk, keeping the pointer she is using as a whip pointed high in the air, “I could ask you the same thing about your dancing!” she points to Sebastian with her pointer who has his hands held in a simple dancing position with Ciel, “Sebastian is dancing very nicely for you, don’t you think you should be a bit more courteous and stop stepping on his toes?”

Ciel flushes at this, and she sighs, “one more time, start” she begins mumbling the steps to the dance as Ciel and Sebastian perform it on the ballroom floor, “much better!” she claps her hands a little and Ciel all but collapses as the dance ends.

She rolls her eyes, “so dramatic,” the boy glares at her and she smiles sadistically, “I suppose we can stop for now.” Ciel remains collapsed on the floor, exhausted.

She sets her ‘whip’ onto the small table nearby and a voice interrupts her moment of quiet, “would you care to dance my lady?” she turns around to see Sebastian holding out a hand with a devilish smirk.

She huffs out a laugh, “aren’t your toes practically falling off?” she crosses her arms and he chuckles, “I’m always prepared to dance with a beautiful woman.”

She allows her cheeks to fill with a tiny bit of color before speaking with slightly narrowed eyes, “is this your form of apology for earlier?” 

He blinks sheepishly with a nervous chuckle, “I suppose so, you'll have to forgive me my lady,” his expression morphs into one of devilish desire, “it's not often I meet somebody of your rare origins.” 

She huffs a laugh at this and smirks, “perhaps I will take you up on that offer later.” Their low conversation is interrupted by a low groan of ‘I can’t feel my feet…’ from Ciel, who is laying weakly on the floor, an exhausted mess.

“I heard that the Viscount was into black magic and that occult sort of thing.” Madame red spoke to the other carriage passengers from behind her fan with an air of secrecy. Her crimson red and black gown exposed and pushed up her breasts in a flattering way, “they say he holds secret banquets during his parties, perhaps you should try and get in on one tonight Ciel?”

Lau was seated next to her, dressed in a plain suit and bowtie, still with the serene expression he always wore, minus the usual sight of Ran-mao perched on his lap.

The wheels of the carriage jostle on the cobblestones. The movement squishes the people inside together, causing Ciel to grimace as Sebastian and Anastasia are pressed to his sides before moving away again.

Ciel had been sandwiched between the pair, his pink frilly gown filled the space considerably and pushed the other two occupants close to the walls of the carriage. Ciel and Sebastian wore similar annoyed expressions that caused Anastasia to chuckle quietly behind her unfolded golden fan. 

Anastasia herself was dressed in a pastel yellow gown, whose skirts easily filled the space next to Ciel’s own gown. Sebastian was dressed in his tutor garb, and kept messing with the glasses perched on his nose.

As they neared their destination Madame red reminded them of their roles once again, “Lau will be my escort, Ciel will be my distant niece,” Ciel pouted at that and Madame red smiled brightly, “Sebastian will be his tutor and Anastasia will be his chaperone.” 

Ciel sighed, as the carriage pulled into the Viscounts grand house, “This may be our only chance,” he rearranges some of his hair to cover more of his eye, discolored by the contact mark, “we must make this count.”

As the group of five makes it inside, Lau and Madame red split off to socialize with the crowds of people and Ciel taps his foot a bit, impatient.

Sebastian notices this and chuckles a bit, “my lady, perhaps we should try and look for the Viscount in the crowd.”

Ciel's eyes narrow at the usage of ‘lady’ but keeps his mouth shut and nods. Eventually they spot him in a distant crowd, across from the spinning crowd of dancers.

“Hell,” Ciel swears under his breath, Anastasia chuckles at the small outburst, “It looks like you’ll have to put those lovely dancing skills to good use Ciel.”

He tosses her a one-eyed glare, and Sebastian places a hand on the angry boy's shoulder, “we shall meet you on the other side,” Anastasia nods slightly and steps away from the crowd. Before she can get far a man stops her, “excuse me, miss?” she looks at him, and laughs in her head as she looks him up and down, ‘no older than 25’.

The man flushes as her eyes meet his face, and he stutters out his question, “m-may I have a dance?” she smiles as he ducks his head, ‘I suppose this is a quicker way to get around.’ Anastasia speaks in a sultry voice, “of course, sir, I’d be honored.” the man blinks, bewildered, and quickly scrambles to get onto the dance floor with her in toe.

As they begin to dance, Anastasia almost instantly regrets her choice, within the first few chords of the song he has already stepped on her toes. The ending of the song couldn’t come any sooner, and she is relieved to be free of dancing for the first time after that experience, ‘I now understand why Ciel hates it so much.’ she feels herself grimace a small smile at the man, who is beaming triumphantly, “Would you like to dance again?” 

Anastasia feels dread at the statement and huffs out an uncomfortable laugh, “actually I have a dance with somebody else reserved right now..” before she can even finish her sentence the man, who is suddenly angry, narrows his eyes and looks around incredulously, “with who?”

A deep voice answers his question, “with me.” The man comes face to face with a smirking Sebastian and his sudden confidence visibly withers away, “o-oh,” he's back to a stuttering mess before Anastasia can even begin to blink, and she almost laughs. The man scrambles away with a stuttered out farewell. 

Sebastian takes her hand and places a kiss on the back of it, she raises an eyebrow in response, “has Ciel made it to the Viscount.” Sebastian stands up straight again, and leads her to the dance floor once again. 

“Yes,” his hands come to rest in the usual watz position, one on her hip and the other clasped in her hand. He leans in close for a moment, “we must create a distraction so that the young master can leave easily.” 

She chuckles, and the music starts, “then let's give them a lovely show,” her lips curl up and her voice becomes sultry again, “shall we, darling?”

His eyes light up at this for a moment, before they both begin a very scandalously sensual waltz. Eventually the crowd stops to gape at them, some in awe, and others in shock. Their fronts press together and he dips her low, exposing her chest and throat in an appealing way. 

“I never knew you could dance so well my lady,” Sebastian whispers in a low tone as they straighten up. She lets out a quiet huff of laughter, “One of my many,” her face comes close to his for a split second, “many, skills.” her voice trails off, and its provocative tone leaves much to the imagination.

As the dance comes to a close, they finish with a simple parting and another kiss to her hand from him. The crowd breaks out in murmurs, and Madame red and Lau approach them as soon as possible. 

Madame red is the first to speak, “oh my goodness! I never would have imagined you to be such an avid dancer Sebastian,” the demon's lips curl up in a small smile, the Madame suddenly grabs Anastasia by the hand, “nor would I have expected you to be!” 

Anastasia fans herself slightly, with an indulging smile, “well I was once a maid to a high-ranking lady in my youth.”

Madame reds eyes widen at this and she gapes, Lau breaks the silence, “perhaps next time you should wear one of the dresses i offered,” his smile becomes serene, “it would be quite the sight…”

Madame red blushes and slaps him on the arm as his voice trails off, “those dresses are not appropriate for an Englishwoman!”

Ciel wakes up with his hands and feet bound, and a blindfold over his eyes. The cold of the wood below his kneeling legs seeps into his skin through the pink dress, and he scoffs as he listens to the Viscount talk about his features to some sort of crowd, ‘tch,’ he scoffs, ‘selling people on a blackmarket hm.’ 

As the Viscount removes the boy's blindfold, he slowly opens his eyes to the crowd and calls out, “-Sebastian, come to me. Now.”

He hears the sudden whoosh sound, similar to a bird's wings, and all the lights in the auditorium go out in a flash. By the time he regains his vision, Anastasia is at his side slipping the binding from his wrists and ankles, and Sebastian is striding towards them, surrounded by a sea of collapsed patrons.

Ciel closes his contract-covered eye in front of Anastasia and narrows his visible one, “why the hell are you here?” 

Anastasia pauses before letting out a deep chuckle, “oh Ciel..” her voice drags off and she cocks her head to the side with a devilish smirk. Her eyes change into a demonic slitted magenta color, and Ciels own eyes both open wide, “w-what!” 

His sudden outburst makes Sebastian, who is now at his side, let out a low laugh, “surely you could’ve guessed young master.” The boy scoffs and narrows his eyes, “you could have at least told me.” the butler opens his mouth to reply, but Ciel stops him with a hand in the air, “is the Viscount taken care of?” 

Sebastian closes his mouth and smirks, he glances over at Anastasia who is now inspecting the passed out Viscounts face with mild disinterest, “yes, the Viscount is currently incapacitated,”

Ciel sighs and stands up, “good, the Yard can take care of them all in the morning,” he mumbles, “I’m tired.” 

Sebastian chuckles, “very well young master.” he glances at Anastasia for a moment, “excuse me.”

He approaches her and she turns her gaze from the Viscounts' hair to Sebastian's familiar face. “I suppose this is goodbye for now,” she speaks first, with a soft smile. 

He places a kiss onto the back of her hand once again, “for now,” and straightens up again, “I shall await my real dance, my lady.” she hums with a grin in response and he approaches Ciel again, who sputters as Sebastian picks him up into a bridal style hold.

They escape the manor through a nearby balcony, and Anastasia watches them go with a small satisfied smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does anybody wanna tell me how the fuck I'm supposed to keep my stuff in italics on here, I am struggling ),:


	3. Chapter 3

“Jack the ripper strikes again!” Ciel shoots out of his chair and yells the headline of the paper out loud in shock.

Grell jumps a bit at his sudden outburst, spilling sugar all over himself, causing Sebastian to narrow his eyes at the mess the other butler made from across the room. Madame red gapes at the boy over her cup of tea, and Lau hums thoughtfully with a smile, “I suppose the Viscount wasn’t the killer afterall…” 

Sebastian throws a glance at the trio, and after a glance from his master, “I’ll look over the suspect list again,” he picks up the neatly stacked pieces of paper at his side, and begins skimming the names once more.

Anastasia sighs and stares into her almost empty cup of tea, the Undertaker had nagged her persistently for every detail from the night before, and it had kept her up very late after she had left the party, though not before dancing with Lau. He had been very persistent about it, and she was pleasantly surprised by his surefooted dancing when she finally relented.

She glances over at the Undertaker who’s still giggling a little while he works. When she had told him about Ciels crossdressing, his hysterical laughter had almost taken the whole shop down and surely startled the neighbors. 

She shook her head with a smile, and turned to the sink to clean out her now empty cup. As she dries her hands, the Undertaker calls her from the front of the shop, “Anastasia? Would you bring me the rib cutters?” she glances over at him, leaning over their newest ‘customer’ and replies, “hold on a moment.”

Ciel sits on the edge of his bed and sighs with a hand on his head, Sebastian enters the room silently with his nose still buried in the stack of suspects, “I can’t believe the Viscount wasn’t our man.”

“None of our other suspects fit the description,” he glances up at Ciel, who had planted himself flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling, “well versed in medicine, no alibi, ties to secret societies, no human could do this...”

As the butler trails off Ciel suddenly pins his calm face with an accusatory gare, “Sebastian…did you..?”

The demon chuckles at his masters obvious accusation, “My lord, you should know by now,” he smirks and the papers in his hands come fluttering down to the floor slowly, “I do not act until you tell me too…”

His voice trails off and Ciel’s face straightens, Sebastian places a hand over his heart, “now, give me an order.”

Anastasia pulls her coat tighter against herself, the nights cool air cutting easily through the fabric. She had been running some errands for the Undertaker when the shouting of the paper boy had caught her attention. She glances down at the newspaper still gripped in her hands, she scoffs in her head, ‘we really got the wrong man…’

The woman glances around herself before jumping to the roofs for an easier search, ‘where could those idiots be,’ her head suddenly whips to the left as the sound of an engine revving startles her. She rushes to the scene, just in time to see Sebastian and a red haired reaper fighting. Anastasia gasps slightly as the reaper swings the strange scythe into a wide swing with a wild screech, prepared to slice the demon clean in half.

She suddenly jumps into action with a quick flash of light. As the reaper regains their vision, they let out a cry of “what the hell!?” at the sight of Anastasia. Two pure white wings had sprung from her back, pushing the reaper out of the way and effectively shielding Sebastian, and herself, from the fatal blow of the weapon.

The reaper lets out a sultry chuckle, “ooh~ it looks like you have a guardian angel bassy~” they raise the scythe to rest it on their shoulder with a shark-toothed grin, “it’s lovely to see you again dear,” Their face falls into a smirk, “although, I suppose this will mean I'll have to fight you for bassies love, how tragic~”

Anastasia folds her wings in slightly and narrows her eyes, “Grell, I see you were the killer,” the scent of fresh blood fills her senses. Sebastian sighs and brings himself beside her, “although not entirely alone…” he throws a glance towards the cobblestone streets, where Madame red lay dead with Ciel at her side.

Anastasia lets out a grim hum, and Grell revs the engine on their scythe again with a wild grin, “Don’t get distracted from our battle for that!” Anastasia and Sebastian spring into action. Both beings swipe at the reaper, and Grell laughs while swinging their scythe around at the duo wildly. 

“Ooh~ this is so exhilarating!” Grell’s eyes alight with pleasure as they grin wildly, “to think we’re all in a forbidden love triangle!” 

The reaper lets out a dreamy sigh and Sebastian grimaces as he dodges another swing of the scythe, “please refrain from making any more obscene comments,” he quickly kicks the reaper's scythe out of their hands, and Grell lunges for it, but not before Anastasia grips their long red hair in her clawed hands and yanks them back, exposing their throat. 

“What a pretty color,” the woman's face splits into a fanged grin, “what a shame if it were to be cut off.” Grell lets out a yelp as she tugs on their hair painfully.

Sebastian cracks his knuckles with a grin, and Grell whimpers, “please! Not the face, anything but that!” Anastasia wraps an arm around their chest to keep them tight against herself, she lets out a laugh, “is this what you had in mind when you mentioned that love triangle?” her whispered question makes Grell shudder, and Sebastian grins demonically at her sudden sadistic actions.

He swiftly punches the reaper square in the face, sending them flying out of Anastasia's hold and onto the cobble streets below.

They land with a pained groan, and the duo lands beside the reaper gracefully, Sebastian lands a swift kick onto the reapers side that makes them let out a cry. Anastasia smiles cherrily, “perhaps we should use this?” in her hands, Grell's scythe, still in working order. 

Sebastian grins at her, his eyes flashing a demonic magenta at her suggestion, “what a wonderful idea!” he takes the scythe from her awaiting hands and approaches the reaper, who by now is trying to back away frantically and cries out, “now hold on! Just what are you going to do!” 

Anastasia folds away her wings with a delicate fluttering sound and smiles forebodingly at the begging redhead at her feet, “I’m sure you can guess my dear.” 

Grell shouts, “n-no! I’m too beautiful to die! Stop!”

Sebastian raises the weapon above his head and swings swiftly, the sudden screeching sound of metal against metal can be heard.

“Will!” Grell cries out in hope, another reaper had used his own scythe to stop Sebastisan from landing the killing blow.

“Sorry to interrupt,” the man's calm voice cut through the silence, “I am William T. Spears from the Dispatch Management Division,” his eyes shifted over the three beings currently engaged in a fight, from his position on the rooftop above them.

Anastasia narrows her blue eyes up at him suspiciously and the newest reaper pushes up his glasses quietly before speaking, “I’ve come to collect this delinquent.”

Grell suddenly gushes with happiness, “Oh William! You’ve come to save me!” the second reaper scoffs at their outburst and jumps down, only to land directly onto Grell’s back with a thud. 

He pulls a small black book out of thin air and begins leafing through it, “Dispatch member Grell Sutcliff, you have carelessly broken many rules,” Will steps off of his fellow reapers back and begins listing their broken rules off in a monotone voice, “you killed people not on the to die list, you’ve been using a death scythe not properly regulated and have modified it without permission.”

Will turns away from the injured reaper and towards the waiting duo, he bows deeply, “I apologize for the trouble my colleague has caused,” he stands up straight with a grimace, “I never thought I’d see the day when I’d have to bow to the likes of you…” his cold gaze shifts from Sebastians smirking form and onto Anastasia, “especially not a half-breed like you.”

Anastasia openly glares at the man and he turns away carelessly with Grell’s red hair gripped in his hands, “Come along now Grell, you’ve got a long apology to write to the heads tonight.”

Sebasians face flattens into a frown at the reaper's open disrespect towards Anastasia and he throws Grell’s scythe at Will’s retreating form. 

The reaper turns around at the last minute and catches it with his free hand. Sebastian smirks tauntingly, “I assumed you wanted this back.”

Anastasia glances at the demon by her side with a small smile and the cynical reaper glances between them in distaste, “quite…” he pushes up his glasses once again, “if that's all, I’ll be on my way now.”

As the man disappears, Ciel approaches the duo quietly with a frown, and Sebastian places a hand over his heart with a small frown, “I apologize young master, I let the other half of Jack the ripper go.”

The boy lets out an exhausted sigh, “it’s fine,” he glances at his aunt's body, “it doesn’t matter anymore…”

The solemn ringing of church bells cuts through the air and Anastasia sighs, she had watched Ciel enter the funeral from afar, with Sebastian waiting by the doors at the entrance. She smiled as she spotted a few flower petals on the cobbles, and she waved her hand, letting a small gust of wind push the petals past the demon and into the open church.

The Undertaker approached her with a smile, “we have one more body to deliver,” she glances into the carriage, and sees a plain coffin, “the last victim?” she asks with a smirk. The Undertaker giggles, “the young earl was nice enough to pay for ‘er funeral.” 

Anastasia hums with a grin and glances over at the boy in question, who can be seen approaching the carriage from the church's entrance.

A headstone reading ‘Mary Kelly’ stands silently in front of the group of four. The Undertaker breaks the solemn silence first, “you’re so kind to ‘av paid for ‘er funeral, young lord.” 

Ciel scoffs, “the nice thing to do would have been to save her…” the boys voice trails off and he stares down at the freshly dug grave, and he mumbles, “I let my pride get in the way of her safety, this is simply a courtesy.” 

Sebastian glances at his master with a raised eyebrow, and Anastasia ruffles the boy's hair with a smile, much to his chagrin, “I think it's very sweet of you, little lord.”

Ciel narrows his eyes at her with red cheeks, he quickly recovers and fixes his hair and narrows his eyes at her, “we have something to discuss.”

Anastasia chuckles, “is this about my little secret?” Ciel crosses his arms, “I’d like to know how you even exist,” he narrows his visible eye at her, “and how you found us out there.”

The woman smirks, “well Ciel, as far as how I exist,” she leans in close and begins to whisper, “you do know what a man and woman do when they become very close don’t you?”

The boy’s face breaks out into a blush and he sputters, “be serious!” The Undertaker lets out a cackle and stands up, “I’ll be going back now! Do come visit little Earl.” 

Anastasia waves as the Undertaker walks away and Ciel stares at her expectantly, with Sebastian standing silently by his side.

“It’s as that disrespectful reaper said quite rudely last night,” she crosses her arms thoughtfully, “I’m a hybrid of sorts.”

Ciel cuts in, confused, “but I thought angels and demons were sworn enemies.” 

Sebastian chuckles at this, “There are other more, distasteful, ways of impregnating somebody my lord.” Ciel grimaces at that and Anastasia chuckles, “well my parents certainly weren’t burdened by each other's company in that way.”

“Ah, so a forbidden love story, how romantic,” Ciel’s words drip with sarcasm, and Anastasia hums, “well, my father was literally torn apart for the little affair,” she glances down at a frowning Ciel, and winks with a grin, “it’s not exactly holy to associate with a demon in that way.”

She glances up at the clouds with a small smile, “as for how I found you, that was simple,” Ciel glances at her suspiciously, “I simply went back into your house and read Sebastian's notes, it was quite easy to find you lot from that.”

Ciel sputters, “you broke into my house!?” Sebastian lets out a muffled chuckle.

Anastasia avoids the question with a small grin, “Well, I should get going, the dead never stop for long,” she smirks at the boy, “I do hope you listen to the Undertaker and come visit,” she throws a glance at the demon beside Ciel, “both of you.”

Ciel sighs in an exasperated way as Anastasia fades from view, “what a strange woman,” Sebastian merely hums in response and the boy throws a glance up at him, only to smirk when he catches the demon staring at her shrinking form, distractedly. With a smirk, he chuckles, “let’s head home Sebastian, I’m quite tired of London.”

His comment snaps the demon out of his reverie, “of course young master.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know it occurred to me as I was writing the beta that I completely forgot to write anything about Grell until the actual climax of that little storyline, so :/ sorry about that I guess.


	4. Chapter 4

The brisk December air lazily whafted snow from the cobble streets and back into the air where it came from. Anastasia let out a soft puff of breath, and held out a single gloved hand to catch a few of the fresh flakes in her upturned palm. 

They melted into the heated leather of her gloves and she gave a small smile at their delicacy. The sudden sound of a man's yelling shook her from her quiet appreciation and she glanced down the street and at the crowd that had slowly formed nearby. 

Her curiosity getting the better of her, she decides to approach the scene. 

After inspecting the scene, she could see a group of five noblemen had been strung upside down in nothing but their small-clothes. 

A man, with a pair of very impressive grey sideburns, is standing in the middle of the bustling crime scene, yelling at a small boy. She does a short double take at this and raises an eyebrow, ‘Ciel?’ 

The young earl is ignoring the older man's outburst, which is seemingly a rant about Indians and insulting the queen, and is currently reading a small piece of paper in his hands. Sebastian, who stands next to the boy, throws a smile at her as though able to sense her presence in the crowd. 

She winks with a grin and makes a shushing motion with her finger, Ciel suddenly speaks and hands the note back to the older man, “lets go Sebastian.”

“Yes sir,” he hands a stack of papers to the red headed man with a ‘thank you’, and follows after Ciel.

Ciel lets out a sigh, “I suppose we shall have to visit Lau, although that mans ‘den’ is quite-” he lets the rest of his sentence fall away as Anastasia falls into step with the two quietly.

She smirks down at the boy, “good morning little earl,” Ciel raises an eyebrow in reply with a blank expression and Sebastian speaks in his stead, “good morning my lady.”

She raises a hand to catch more of the slowly falling snowflakes absent-mindedly, “where are you headed? Somewhere fun I hope.”

Ciel sighs again in an annoyed manner, “We are headed to visit Lau, and it's not going to be very ‘fun’.” She chuckles at the boys grumbling, and glances between the demon and master, “I hope you don’t mind if I tag along?”

Sebastian raises an eyebrow, “does the undertaker not need your assistance?”

She hums, “he did well enough without me before, besides,” she pats the top of Ciels tophat with a wink, “hanging around you two always means amusing stories for him.” 

The boy readjusts his hat with a disgruntled frown and Sebastian chuckles, “We have arrived young master,” the demon gestures to the building's opening, and Ciel raises an eyebrow, “this is it? It's quite literally a staircase into nothing.”

Anastasia takes the first step with a smirk, “learn to live a little, eh Ciel?” The boy scoffs at her and descends the staircase to Laus ‘den’ with Sebastian trailing behind him like a shadow.

Once inside the dimly lit building, the sickeningly sweet smell of opium overwhelmed the trio's senses, and Ciel coughs a bit at the smell while bringing a hand up to his face to wave away the smoke surrounding him. 

Laus' cheery voice greets them, “Ah! If it isn't the little earl,” he’s seated on a long sofa, with a pipe in his fingers and at least five women dressed in tiny china doll dresses hanging off his thin frame. Including Ran-mao, who gazes at the visitors with a blank expression, “and you brought Anastasia! What a lovely surprise.”

Laus’ lips curl up into a slow grin, “you finally decided to visit,” two women approach Sebastian and ask if he wishes to smoke with them, Anastasia throws them a narrow eyed glance, which causes them to shiver a bit, and the demon declines with a chuckle.

“I assume you’re here for information on the recent ‘incident’, hmm?” The chinese man lets out a puff of heavy smoke, and Ciel narrows his eyes, “yes, I have been tasked with it. I assumed you'd know, as the Shanghai mafia leader.”

Anastasia glances at the man, intrigued by his newly revealed title. Lau rests his cheek in his palm lazily and smiles, “no need to be formal with me my lord.”

A few moments of speaking later and the group, now with Lau in tow, walks through the streets of the slums. Ciel huffs slightly after a bit more aimless walking, “where are we headed?”

“Huh?” Lau turns around with a blank smile, “oh, I thought we were following you.”

Anastasia giggles behind her hands and Ciel fumes angrily, the boy steps a bit away from the group. Suddenly, a poorly dressed Indian man bumps into the boy's shoulder. Ciel falls backwards a bit and into Sebastian's awaiting hands, which upright him again.

The Indian man, on the other hand, cries out as though in pain, “aarg! The pain! I think you’ve broken a rib!”

Laus eyebrows raise, “oh my..!”

A large group of various Indians come from nowhere and surround the group of three, as Lau disappears conveniently. The mob joins in on the man's act, the first indian points at Ciel with a crooked finger, “you look like a rich noble, you must pay to fix my injuries!”

Ciel glares at the man, and he grits his teeth and points at Anastasia next, “and you, Lady, strip off your valuables and hand ‘em over!” Anastasia lets out an open chuckle at this, and Sebastian frowns at the man angrily, “it seems we’ve run into some delinquents, young master.”

The Indian man begins a rant about how the group despises nobles, “-you nobles dumped us like trash after forcing us here!” Ciel rolls his eyes in a bored fashion, and waves his hand carelessly, “Sebastian, take care of them.”

The demon adjusts his white gloves, “of course young master.” Before a full fight can break out between the demon and the mob, a new voice interrupts the tense mood, “excuse me!”

The newcomers are two Indian men, both dressed in much more expensive fabrics and gold jewelry than any in the mob. The shorter man holds up a crudely drawn picture of a woman, “has anybody seen this woman? We are searching for her.”

The short man quickly assesses the tense situation as his countryman ignore his requests, and his golden eyes land on the trio at the center of the hostile mob, “are you a british nobleman?”

Ciel narrows his visible eye at the man, “yes, what of it.” the man snaps his fingers, “Agni,” the white-haired man at his side stands at attention, “yes my prince?”

The ‘prince’ waves his hands in the direction of the trio, “take care of them.” Angi bows, “of course.” he unwinds the bandages over his right hand and Anastasia and Sebastian quickly move Ciel behind themselves with narrowed eyes.

Agni glances at Anastasia, who shields Ciel behind her skirts, and cocks his head, “I do not wish to hit a lady, please step away.” She stands her ground in silence and Agni skips over her to swipe at Sebastian, who braces himself for the impact. Anastasia grips the Indian’s forearm with inhuman strength before his blow can land, Agni’s eyes widen and his face flushes in surprise at her strength. He quickly shifts out of her hold to lunge at Sebastian, who takes the blow and tosses Ciel into Anastasia's hands. She quickly shields him behind herself once more and watches the fight, intrigued. 

As Agni and Sebastian exchange blows, the mob watches and cheers and Ciel cries out to the smaller Indian, “we were just walking down the street when this group started harassing us! Do all Indians act this way?”

The smaller man seems to become upset at this and addresses the mob, “is this true?” the men in the mob look away sheepishly and mumble amongst themselves. The smaller indian frowns, “Angi, our countrymen are in the wrong, we are switching sides.”

Angi stops attacking Sebastian, “yes my prince.” in no less than ten minutes, the mob is in a paralysed heap at Agni’s feet, who returns to his master afterwards. The boy waves goodbye with a neutral expression, “If that's all, we’re very busy, so we’ll be going now.”

Ciel emerges from behind Anastasia’s protective stance and his face screws up into a confused expression, “what a strange occurrence.”

Sebastian steps close to the knocked out mob with a thoughtful look, “I suppose we should turn this group in to the Yard.”

“Yes, our suspect could be among them,” the boy lets out an exhausted sigh, and Anastasia plops his hat back onto his head after picking it up from where it had fallen earlier, “are you on a case at the moment young lord?”

“Yes,” he adjusts his hat and glances up at her intrigued face, “it’s a whole mess about those strung up nobles.”

Anastasia chuckles, “my! Is that what that man was yelling about earlier today?” Ciel hums in response and Sebastian suddenly cuts in, “why don’t you come to the townhouse for tea?” Ciel raises an eyebrow at his butlers presumptuous invite, “we can inform you about the details of the case there,” the demon turns and smiles at his master, “it would be helpful to have a third set of eyes, don’t you think young master?”

Ciel glances between the two adults, perturbed, “I suppose it couldn’t hurt.”

“Welcome home young master!” a trio of smiling servants welcomes the group home excitedly. 

“Huh, who's this?” Finny asks as soon as his eyes land on Anastasia, who grins at the boy's enthusiasm.

Lau strolls into the entryway, he had reappeared miraculously after the strange battle, “ah, I see you brought all the servants this time Ciel.”

“Yes they almost blew the house up last time we left them unattended,” Ciel mumbles with a hand on his forehead.

Sebastian answers Finny’s question with a calm smile, “This is miss Anastasia, she works with the Undertaker.”

Bard introduces himself with a suave smile, “evenin’ ma’am,” Sebastian tosses him a glance, and the blonde man suddenly turns sheepish, “I-er- I’m the chef.” 

The boy from earlier quickly follows Bard with a bright smile, “I’m Finny the gardener!” The young maid follows along next with an awed blush, “and I’m Mey-rin, yes I am!” 

Anastasia smiles, “it’s lovely to meet you all.” as she sheds her gloves she hears Ciel grumble about ‘boring cases’ and chuckles. Sebastian, sensing his masters annoyance, speaks up, “I shall make tea immediately.”

Ciel rubs his forehead as though he has a headache, “yes, yes, bring it to the study…” as his voice trails off quietly a strangely familiar voice fills the space, “make it chai please.” Ciel waves his hands without thinking, “yes fine, whatev- wait!”

He whirls around to face his unexpected guests, “what the-” Agni strips off his master's shawl as the younger Indian looks around curiously, “what the hell are you lot doing here?” Ciel continues his confused yelling.

The purple haired ‘prince’ smirks, “we saved you,” Ciel sputtered out a quick ‘saved??’ and the prince continues, “in India it's common to entertain your benefactors.”

Ciel lets out an incredulous cry of ‘benefactors?!’ and the prince turns to Lau with a low voice, “where are all the beds?”

Anastasia stands next to Sebastian and watches amused as Laus' face screws up into a confused expression. Agni, who had disappeared earlier, cries out from the top of the staircase, “I’ve found the beds my prince!” 

The prince begins going up the stairs and Ciel follows him closely, “I’ve decided to stay here awhile.” The prince's casual statement makes Ciel’s soul practically leave his body, he throws open the door to the bedroom the prince had just strolled into, “just who the hell do you think you are?”

Sebastian and Anastasia, along with the rest of the bunch stroll into the room as well, to see the Indian man spread out on the bed luxuriously, “who am I?” he chuckles, “I’m a prince.”

Agni decides to formally introduce the man on the bed, “this is prince Soma Asman Gandal, the twenty-sixth child of the King of Bengal.”

Anastasia huffs out a choked breath and whispers to herself, “twenty-sixth..?!” her hand comes to rest on her stomach with a shocked grimace, and Sebastian chuckles quietly behind his gloved fingers. 

“I’ll be staying awhile shorty,” The prince’s statement leaves Ciel at a loss for words, “you may approach me.” the trio of servants from earlier approach him excitedly.

Agni lets out a boisterous laugh, “wonderful! In celebration, I will make chai.” Sebastian follows him out as he tries to use the kitchen with a feeble ‘wait!’.

Finnys’ eyes light up, “I can’t believe you’re an actual prince!” Mey-rin cuts in next with a thoughtful look, “what’s Bengal like?”

As prince Soma answers their questions, Ciel remains paralysed in shock and Anastasia approaches him, “I suppose things are finally getting interesting, weren’t you just complaining about that young lord?” The boy glares up at her smirking face and Lau smiles serenely, “it could be a fun experience.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dunno if I reminded y'all of this, but I have decided to go exclusively by the Manga! there are so many good storylines in there its crazy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I'm working on chapter 6 and 7 as you read! but I did leave you guys and gals with one long ass chapter here (11 pages y'all!!) so enjoy while I'm busy <3

Ciel's eyes narrow down the table at his guest, prince Soma, who is currently eating a bowl of curry with gusto. The young Earl sighs as crumbs from the prince’s current piece of naan cover his mouth completely, “how long do you plan on staying here?”

Anastasia eats a small spoonful of her own bowl of curry and glances between the prince and earl amusedly. “We’ll leave when we finish our job,” the prince drinks from his cup of fresh tea, poured by Agni with a smile.

“Weren’t you looking for somebody?” Anastasia supplies helpfully to the prince who nods enthusiastically with a new piece of naan stuffed into his mouth. Agni hands a piece of paper to Ciel, the drawing from the day before, and the boy inspects it, “we shall leave when we’ve found that woman.”

Ciel’s face turns into a small grimace as he looks at the image, “Sebastian...can you..?” Sebastian struggles to keep his face impassive as he looks at the image, “even for me it’s…” the demon's voice trails off and he stops himself as he glances down at the princes’ end of the table, “I shall try.”

Prince Soma smiles with pride, “I drew that, her name is Meena,” his gaze suddenly becomes faroff, “she was the most beautiful maidservant in my palace.” Agni tosses his prince a sad expression from his spot behind his masters chair.

Anastasias eyes catch Agnis expression before it disappears and she hums to herself quietly. The drawing finally reaches her and she presses her lips together for a moment in shock.

She turns to the prince after a moment, “prince Soma, I draw for my employer from time to time, could I perhaps draw her again for you based on your description?”

The prince's eyes light up at this, “that would be very helpful, yes.”

Ciel hums at the exchange, “so what is this woman doing in Englan-” his sentence is drowned out by the sound of humming and prayers. He glances in its direction, annoyed, only for his eyes to widen, “what is that?”

The two Indians had pulled a statue out of seemingly nowhere and are currently praying fervently by its base. Anastasia stands to inspect it along with Sebastian and Ciel, “it seems to be the goddess Kali.” 

Sebastian and Ciel each pin her with an almost identical questioning glance, and she giggles a bit, “what? I spent some time in India once.”

Agni stops praying to comment with a soft smile, “you're right my lady, this is Kali.” 

Sebastian brings a fist to his chin in thought, “it seems to me to be a statue of a woman wearing men's heads as a necklace, with a man's head in her hand and she is stepping on a man's stomach.”

Agni grins, “that is correct, Kali is the wife of Shiva, and is also the goddess of power. It is said that a demon challenged her to a battle, of course she won, but afterwards she went on a violent rampage,” Sebastian raises an eyebrow at the demon part, and Agni continues his passionate retelling, “in an attempt to stop her, her husband threw himself at her feet!”

Sebastian suddenly crosses his arms with a smile, “ah so it was a lovers quarrel, no wonder.”

Anastasia chuckles at this with a smirk, “do you have much practice with those Sebastian?”

The demon grins right back at her, “oh hardly,” he speaks quietly and behind one gloved hand, “I’m not in the habit of displeasing my lovers.” Anastasia bites her lip a bit at this. Ciel clears his throat with a large blush and hisses under his breath, “Can you two please pay attention.”

The two straighten up with small chuckles and focus on Agni’s talking again.

“-after treading on her husband with her unclean feet, she saw the error of her ways and all was right with the world!” Agni swings his hand to gesture at the statue, “she holds the defeated demons head as proof of her power.”

Both Anastasia and Sebastian grimace at this a bit. Sebastian crosses his arms and mumbles, “I suppose I shall have to be careful if I ever travel to India.” Anastasia hums in agreement as she looks at the statue in a new light.

Prince Soma stands, “well, I’m done praying for now,” he suddenly grabs Ciel and tries to drag the smaller boy along with him, “come on shorty, I need you to show me around town.”

Ciel sputters, “do not call me shorty-!” Anastasia puffs out a laugh at this and Sebastian stops the prince in his tracks with a sad smile and a hand over his heart, “I’m sorry, but the young master actually has a lot of studying and important work to do today.”

Prince Somas face falls into a frown for a moment, and Anastasia cuts in with a pleasant smile, “why don’t we do that drawing I told you about to pass the time?” The prince drops Ciel to the floor, and the boy lets out a short ‘oof’, and Soma wraps his hands around Anastasia's arm with a wide grin, “lets go!”

A few moments later Ciel is engaged in music lessons with Sebastian, and Agni, Prince Soma and Anasasia are at a nearby table, “Please describe to me what she looks like, Prince Soma.” The prince launches into a description of Meena, filled with mostly high praise of her looks, and Ciel begins playing the violin softly.

Around the time Ciel begins his art lessons, Anastasia has finished her sketch and presents it to the prince with a smile, who claps his hands and excitedly shouts, “this looks just like her!”

Prince Soma presents it to Agni who nods with an impressed look, “you do have good skill with drawing my lady.” Anastasia smiles softly at his praise and Sebastian throws a slightly annoyed glance at Agni from his spot next to Ciel.

The earl follows his butler's withering gaze, and immediately regrets it, as prince Soma decides to approach him to inspect Ciels own drawing skills. 

“Hmm…” the prince gazes onto Ciels crude drawing of the bowl of fruit in front of himself as Agni and Anastasia approach the boy as well. 

The prince suddenly grabs Anastasia and plants her at the center of the room in a flurry of movement, “drawings are always good when they’re of naked women,” he points at Anastasia in a commanding way, “undress for us!”

Agni’s and Ciel’s faces both burn an almost identical red at the suggestion, Anastasia’s mouth hangs open in surprise and she almost laughs. Meanwhile, Sebastian throws the prince a murderous glare and mumbles with a frown, “I suppose that's the end of art lessons for today…”

Prince Somas eyes light up at the butlers words, “does that mean we can go out now?” Ciel rubs his temples with a glare, a bit of a blush still stained his cheeks, “no, I have important work to do now.”

The prince smiles, “then I shall help you!” Ciel grits his teeth, but before he can start yelling, Anastasia comes to the rescue once again despite the prince's earlier requests, “prince Soma why don’t we have some tea while we wait for Ciel?”

Agni adds on helpfully, still with a tiny blush, “yes, I can make us a nice chai.” the prince thinks a moment and Anastasia cuts in again, “I can try and draw some more things for you.”

Prince Soma seems more excited at this and crosses his arms, “I suppose I can wait a bit more…”

An hour later, Ciels' work is done, and he and Sebastian engage in a fencing lesson. The moment's quiet, filled with only the changing of their foils, is soon interrupted though, by prince Somas grumbling, “this is so boooring..!” he yawns dramatically, Anastasia had finished drawing all of Somas requests some time ago. Most of which were of the rooms inhabitants; Ciel and Sebastian engaged in a duel, Agni pouring a cup of tea. 

Ciel glowers as the princes’ comment throws him off, he stops attacking Sebastian for a moment, “if you’re really that bored, why don’t we have a wager,”

The prince perks up at this and Ciel continues with a smirk now, “if you win a match against me, I will go out with you,” Ciel tosses the prince a foil, “and if you lose, you must leave me alone for the rest of the day.”

The prince smirks, “that should be easy enough.” Anastasia chuckles at the princes’ confidence and crosses her legs in her chair to watch.

Sebastian calls the match, “whomever has the most points at the end wins,” he raises one gloved hand into the air, “start!”

Prince Soma swings wildly at Ciel and the foil bounces off of the smaller boy with a twang, “what!” the prince is shocked and Ciel smirks with a huff. 

Prince Soma suddenly flings his arms around, “wait! I don’t know the rules!”

Ciel aims a quick jab at the prince, which he dodges easily, “you’ve only yourself to blame for that.”

As Ciels next quick strike takes the path of hitting the prince, Agni quickly reacts with a cry, “my prince! Watch out!” He jumps in the way of Ciels strike and suddenly jabs Ciels arm with precision, causing the boy to drop his weapon with a short cry.

Sebastian's eyes widen and Anastasia blinks in slight shock at the man's speed. As Agni begins to realize what he’s done he brings his hands to his face, “oh no! Ciel I’m so sorry.”

The boy grits his teeth as feeling comes back into his arm slowly and prince Soma laughs heartily, Sebastian tosses the prince a glare and helps his master up.

“My, my,” Anastasia's sultry voice causes the group of four to glance over at her, “I suppose you and Sebastian shall have to have a battle, it’s only fitting don’t you think.” Her gaze lands on Sebastian for a moment longer then Agni.

Sebastian picks up the foil with the precision of an expert at her announcement, and smirks, “I suppose I shall have to avenge my master.” 

Ciel rolls his eyes at the butler's obvious posturing, and prince Soma laughs again, “I suppose it could be interesting,” he steps away from Agni and hands him his own foil, “I’ll allow it. Agni, win for Kali!”

Agni nods with a serious expression, “jyo ajna.”

Ciel moves to sit next to Anastasia at the nearby table and calls over his shoulder, “I’m sure I don’t have to remind you to win Sebastian.” The demon smirks in response and keeps his eyes trained on Agni, “of course not, young master.” 

The battle starts with the sharp clang! Of the men’s swords meeting. They meet each other strike for strike, and both are visibly irritated by the battles lack of progress.

As time passes Ciel begins to watch with a small frown, “I cannot believe that Agni is holding up against Sebastian so well,” Anastasia hums in response and watches the two men trade blows with keen eyes.

Ciel suddenly narrows his eyes at the scene and tosses a glance over at prince Soma beside him before whispering, “is he-!” Anastasia cuts him off with a chuckle, “oh no Ciel, both Sebastian and myself would have known by now.” 

She smirks down at the boy, “besides, what did you think I suggested the battle for, if not to find out?”

Ciel lets out a humf in response, and Prince Soma practically yawns again, “is it just this particular style of sword fighting that’s so boring?” 

Ciel narrows his eyes at him, “you’re the one who ‘allowed’ this, can’t you at least feign enjoyment.”

The prince swats his jeweled hands at the Earl with a soft huffing noise. Eventually the other servants come to watch, evidently drawn in by the loud sounds of metal against metal coming from the room.

“Agni and Sebastian are fighting, yes they are!” Mey-rin’s slightly high pitched voice cries out in a light tone and Finny nods enthusiastically with a stressed face.

Bard chews on his cigarette, and studies the men’s movements, “both‘re taking an equally offensive strategy,” he brings a hand to his scruff chin in a thoughtful way, “this means they’re just gonna keep matching moves the ‘hole time.”

Anastasia sighs at his comment and yet another bunch of strikes from both sides decide not to land, “I suppose I’ll have to end it.” A sudden foil appears in her hand and both Ciel and Prince Soma gawk at her. 

“where did she get that..?” Prince Soma whispers to Ciel, and the boy merely stares at her with a slight frown and a concerned expression.

The servants are equally worried and Finny cries out as she begins to approach the fighters, “no! You’ll get hurt if you go any closer!”

Mey-rin lets out a squeal in surprise as Anastasia swings her sword right in between the two men, effectively tangling their swords into a mess with a metallic screech as they both seek to strike again.

Both men lose focus and Agni throws her a bewildered look, at this she smirks and uses her heeled foot to push him away from the mix. He lets out a puff of surprised air, and drops his sword.

She uses her palm to push away Sebastian a bit and begins standing between them with a smile and her sword pointed at the ground, “I think we have to call this one a draw for now gentlemen.” She uses the sword to gesture at the windows, which show that night has fallen already.

“Oh my,” Agni brings his hands together with a nervous smile, “I suppose we got a bit carried away.” 

Sebastian merely hums in response with narrowed eyes, and both Ciel and prince Somas stomachs let out twin growls. The other servants giggle at this and Ciel's face lights up, in contrast Prince Soma rubs his stomach with a small frown, “I’m quite hungry.”

“I suppose I should start dinner,” Sebastian glances at Anastasia, “why don’t you three head to the drawing room to wait for dinner to be ready?”

Anastasia rounds up Ciel and Soma like a school matron and begins to herd them out of the room with a smile. 

Sebastian and Agni head in the opposite direction, towards the kitchen, with the trio of servants trailing behind them slowly.

“I suppose we can play cards while we wait.” Ciel shuffles a deck and sits at a table in the drawing room. Anastasia joins him and prince Soma collapses onto a nearby couch with a sigh, “cards are so boooring.”

Ciel tosses a glare in the prince's direction as he distributes the cards. Anastasia chuckles, the two of them ignore the prince's obvious calls for attention and start their card game. 

“Why don’t you tell me about the case you’re on little earl,” Anastasia grins at Ciel and he frowns at her usage of the Undertakers nickname before placing a card down with a sigh.

“There have been a recent string of attacks on noblemen,” he glances at his cards, “the person keeps leaving letters that insult the queen,” he throws a look at prince soma, who is busy hanging upside down on the edge of the sofa, not paying attention, “she believes that the crimes may be being committed by an Indian who’s upset with the crown.”

Anastasia hums thoughtfully, before placing down a card as well, “I suppose you don’t have a suspect yet?”

Ciel fosses her a glance as she looks at her cards calmly, their eyes meet for a moment and she smirks with a wink.

“Prince Soma?” Anastasia's quiet question brings the prince to attention from his slouched position nearby and he perks up, “yes?”

“What was that move Agni used on Ciel earlier today?” She places down a card and Ciel glances up at her calm face once again, this time with furrowed brows.

Prince Soma smiles widely, “oh that! It’s just the technique of pressing onto certain nerves on the body,” he pints a finger in the air and smiles as though teaching somebody a well known fact, “it can cause a short paralyzing effect if you hit the right area.” 

Anastasia hums in response and mumbles lowly, “and Agni is quite strong,” as her quiet voice trails off she throws a meaningful glance up at Ciel. The boy's eyebrows raise and huffs out a bit of quiet laughter as he begins to understand her hinting. 

The door to the study suddenly opens and mey-rin glances around nervously, “M-mr. Sebastian wanted me to let you know that dinner is ready, yes it is.”

Prince soma shoots out of his seat, “yay! Finally, I’m so hungry.” 

Ciel sets his cards face down, “I suppose we can finish this later.” Anastasia does the same and hums.

Prince Soma, Ciel and Anastasia sat at the long dining room table for the second time that day as dinner was served by Sebastian and Agni.

The two men wove past each other with grace and as Sebastian came near Anastasia, she whispered with a smile, “you two seem to have gotten closer.”

Sebastian sets a plate full of food in front of her and smirks, “ah yes, he told me the lovely tale of he and the princes’ meeting.”

Anastasia chuckled as he straightened up again and Ciel rests his cheek in his hand in a bored fashion, “so who exactly is this Meena you’re looking for?”

Prince Soma glances up from the bowl of food he was eating to frown a small bit, “she was a servant that had been by my side since birth,” the prince stuffs a spoonful of food in his mouth and Ciel grimaces a bit as he keeps talking with the utensil still in his mouth, “my parents never really cared about me, but she was always there for me.”

The prince grins softly, “she was kind and beautiful, and she taught me everything just like an older sister, I love her dearly,” his face suddenly twists into a sneer and he slams a fist onto the table, “but that man took her away from me and brought her to England!”

Ciel narrows his eyes at the princes’ outburst and Anastasia's eyebrows raise, “so she was brought here by a man?” She stirs her food and glances away from the prince, “sounds like a marriage to me.”

The prince’s eyes widen and he almost says something before Ciel cuts him off, “you’re picking this much fuss over a servant who ran off to get married?” 

The prince shoots up from his seat with an enraged expression, and the rest of the room's inhabitants eyes-minus Ciels- widen a bit, “you don’t understand how empty life feels without my Meena! I need her back!” 

Ciel rolls his eyes and sighs, “you’re right I don’t,” the prince’s mouth hangs open with shock and Ciel continues in a bored fashion, “and I don’t wish to,” the earl stands with a suddenly sad expression, “there are some things you can never get back in life…”

He leaves the room with his dinner untouched, and Sebastian frowns at his masters sudden mood swing. The prince merely gapes at Ciels now empty chair and slowly slumps back into his own chair.

After a moment of tense silence Anastasia sets down her spoon with a sigh, “prince soma,” the boy glances up at her with a forlorn expression, “why don’t we retire to the study for a bit?”

The prince nods silently and she tosses a glance at Sebastian who begins to silently clean up the table with Agnis help.

Ciel rejoins the two of them in the study a few hours later, well after the previous dinner fiasco, and tosses a deck of cards in front of the two of them.

“Ciel…” Prince Soma begins to say something and Anastasia grins, “aww Ciel, how sweet.” 

The boy glances at the floor with a barely noticeable blush, “I’m not doing this for you,” he meets the prince's eyes with a flat expression, “I’ve just got time at the moment.”

The prince watches with an open mouth for a moment as Ciel shuffles the cards, and suddenly holds a hand up to the younger boy with a turned cheek, “I’m sorry, I’m quite busy right now,” Anastasia huffs out a muffled giggle and Ciel gapes at the Prince.

“Agni!” The taller Indian appears out of nowhere with a smile and the prince’s cloak in hand. Said prince stands and throws Ciel and smirk, “you know if you don’t sleep you’ll never grow shorty!”

With that he leaves the room and Ciel remains gawking blankly at the prince's empty chair. Anastasia chuckles, “we can finish our game from earlier if you’d like.”

Ciel grits his teeth and throws the card deck onto the table and grumbles, “I’m going to bed.” As he storms out of the room Anastasia grins and calls after him, “goodnight little earl.”

The woman stretches a small bit with a sigh and mumbles to herself, “I suppose I should get ready for bed as well.” Her eyes wander over the bookshelves and she suddenly grins, ‘what's the fun in that?’

Anastasia leaves the room with her hands behind her back, and slowly begins strolling the halls at a leisurely pace.

Eventually she makes it to the main hall, a spacious area with marble flooring, and begins to look around a bit. A voice cuts through the silence as she inspects a painting on the nearby wall, “taking the long route to bed my lady?”

She turns slightly with a smile, “I suppose you could say that.” 

Sebastian smirks in response, “would it be inappropriate for me to ask for that dance I was promised?”

She lets out a small chuckle, “that was so long ago,” she steps closer to him with a sultry expression, “I’m surprised you remember.”

He takes her hand and plants a delicate kiss on the back of it, “how could I forget?”

She entwines their hands and they assume an intimate dance position and begin moving about the room with graceful steps, almost completely silent besides the swishing of Anastasia's skirt along the floor.

Anastasia savors the feeling of his warm hand on her hip, as he guides them around the room with quiet steps and a seductive expression.

They separate and come back together with delicate grace, before the dance ends and they’re pressed chest to chest in silence. Sebastian grips her hip a bit tighter and his lips quirk upwards as their faces inch closer by the second. 

Their breaths intermingle and Anastasia‘s eyes flutter closed. The sudden sound of the front door opening causes them both to startle. 

Sebastian moves with haste and plants them both into a nearby shadowy alcove to hide from their unexpected guests, with the two of them pressed together and watching the intruders with caution.

Prince Soma can be heard groaning softly, “no luck…” Angi takes off his master's cloak and smiles sympathetically, “maybe tomorrow my prince.”

Anastasia's hands tighten their grip on the butler's coat and they both watch in silence as Agni puts away the prince’s cloak. The prince strolls around and comes slightly closer to the alcove where the pair is hiding, much to the pair's chagrin. 

Sebastian maneuvers himself so that the back of his body shields most of Anastasia from view, effectively pinning her to the wall with his body.

She suddenly lets out a quiet chuckle and her hands slide up his chest as she glances up at the demons elegant profile with a whisper, “do you treat all your dance partners like this?”

He stops looking over his shoulder for a moment to smirk at her, “hardly. Although,” he leans in a bit closer and her sultry gaze roams his face slowly, “I’ve never had one so enchanting.”

Their faces come close again and their lips brush for just a second before the sound of Agni’s voice startles them apart once again, “my prince did you hear that?”

Sebastian huffs in an annoyed fashion and Anastasia bites her lip to hold back a giggle at his frown.

Sebastian presses a finger to his lips with a lighthearted expression as prince Soma glances around the hall uneasily, “lets just head upstairs Agni.” 

The prince's servant nods and glances around nervously once again before they head up the stairs with haste.


	6. Chapter 6

Ciel sighed and set the newspaper down with a small crumpling sound, “another attack eh? Tch.”

Anastasia glances up at him from over her teacup and hums, “well you haven’t eliminated those two as suspects, have you?” 

Sebastian fills Ciels empty teacup and cuts in as well, “they have been going out ‘searching’ for that Meena woman until very late in the evening as well.”

Ciel places his head in his hand and sighs, “but it would be too obvious for them to stay as my guests if they were guilty.”

“I suppose so,” the butler walks away to set the tea pot onto the cart nearby and Anastasia muses offhandedly, “they did come back quite late last night.”

Ciel raises an eyebrow at this, “and what were you doing up that late?”

Sebastian smirks and she hufs out a small laugh and looks away from the boy, “well Ciel surely you know it isn’t in our,” she glances at the demonic butler next to the boy, “nature to sleep very often.” 

Ciel narrows his eyes and hums in agreement, she grins, “don’t tell me you were suspecting me for a moment, little earl?”

Ciel glares at her for the nickname and she chuckles, “perhaps we should follow them tonight?” Sebastian supplies his own thoughts and the boy sighs, “if that’s the only way, I suppose we shall have to.”

Anastasia smiles, “ah a late night stroll, how lovely.”

Ciel rests his head on the back of his chair and frowns, “in the cold..”

Anastasia smirks, “oh don’t worry about that Ciel, I’m sure Sebastian will have you all bundled up.”

The young earl glares at her with a small blush as Sebastian chuckles in the background.

Ciel watches his breath form in the air as Anastasia pats his head for the tenth time that evening, “you look like a little doll in that cloak Ciel.”

Sebastian chuckles behind his hand and Ciel blushes and grits his teeth, “please don’t remind me…”

Anastasia lets him go with a grin and the trio continues following the prince and his servant with silent steps in the snow.

As they observe the pair go into yet another store to flash Anastasia's drawing of Meena around Ciel grumbles with his arms crossed, “they seem to be asking around innocently enough,” he lets out a shiver and Anastasia glances down at him with a smirk.

Sebastian checks his pocket watch silently, “they should be returning home soon,” he glances up at the two, “we should get there before they do.”

Anastasia hums as they walk away, “we should make something hot for Ciel to drink,” she punches the boy's cheek with a grin, he attempts to shrug her off and she continues speaking with a smile, “he’s freezing.”

The three of them are back in the study by the time the prince and Agni return, with Ciel holding a cup of hot chocolate.

Sebastian watches from the rooftop as Agni leaves the house a short time after putting the prince to bed, his eyes narrow with a devious grin. 

Anastasia glances up at Ciel, “it seems as though the prince's butler has left the premises.”

Sebastian makes his way back into the room quietly, and Ciel sets down his cup, “I suppose we should follow him then-“

Prince Soma suddenly bursts into the room, already bundled up into his jacket, “take me with you!” The prince frowns with a begging expression, “I want to know where Agni goes when I go to bed!”

Ciel rests his head in his hand for a moment with a sigh, “fine,” the prince grins with sparkling eyes, and Ciel narrows his own eyes at him, “but you mustn’t mess things up.”

The prince throws his arms around the boy with teary eyes, “oh thank you Ciel!”

Sebastian and Anastasia chuckle at the display and the butler stands up from his seated position on the windowsill, “I shall grab your coat.”

The group trails after the Indian butler at a slow pace and as Agni ducks around another street corner, Anastasia sighs, “perhaps Agni just has a secret lover in town.”

The prince sputters with a blush at this and Sebastian brings a hand to his chin in thought, “I don’t think Agni has the capability of it, if I’m being honest.”

Anastasia giggles at that and flashes him a sultry smile, “what, you don’t think a tall and handsome man like Agni would be able to find a woman?”

Sebastian raises an eyebrow with an annoyed expression and prince soma quickly cuts him off before he can reply, “Agni would never do something like that without telling me!”

Ciel whips around to glare at the trio, “will you shut up! Look,” he points to a large house nearby, “He just went in there.”

The boy crosses his arms and prince soma gives a confused expression, “erm, where are we?”

“This is the household of Harold West Jebb,” Ciel sighs, and Anastasia hums, “never heard of him I’m afraid.”

Ciel rolls his eyes, “he imports goods, and owns a tea house called ‘Harold’s coffeehouse’,” he throws a glance at Anastasia, “and he’s been very conveniently spared from the recent string of crimes.”

Prince Soma lets out a small ah, and Sebastian smirks, “I suppose we shall have to get over this wall then,” he picks up Ciel, who shouts in protest, and swiftly jumps onto the other side in a superhuman show of strength.

Anastasia watches with a small blush and the prince watches with his mouth opened wide in astonishment. Sebastian returns to the other two and bows to Anastasia with an outstretched hand, “my lady,” 

She grins and takes his hand, he wraps an arm around her waist and they both ignore the prince's shouts of ‘wait for me!’ As Sebastian brings them both onto the other side gracefully.

Ciel waits with his arms crossed and a slightly perturbed expression, the prince follows behind slowly. He heaved himself over the wall and props onto the snow, out of breath.

They all ignore his struggling and Anastasia glances around, “so little guards..”

Sebastian hums in agreement and Ciel huffs as the prince joins them again, “we are wasting time standing around, let’s head inside.”

The two demons nod and the group makes their way to the door nearby, Ciel tests the knob, “damn, it’s locked”

The prince glances between the three nervously, “t-then how shall we get inside?”

Anastasia smiles and pulls something sharp out of her hair with a smirk, “give me a moment please,”

She gets to work at picking the lock, much to Ciels bemused surprise, and soon the door is open.

As she shoves the pin back into her hair and Ciel opens the door quietly, Sebastian whispers to her, “I never would have guessed you’d be so good with your hands my lady,”

She winks up at him with a finger to her lips, “a lady has her secrets,” Ciel glances over his shoulder at them with a glare and they both press their lips together in an amused smile.

Prince soma glances around them nervously, and whispers, “should we really be breaking in like this…”

They head up the stairs, with only the sound of Anastasia's skirts breaking the silence, “well you can’t really call it breaking in if they just left the door open like that, hmm?”

The prince frowns, “but-“ Ciel cuts him off with a harsh shush, and Sebastian halts the group with a serious expression, “somebody is talking in that room.”

The four of them head to the slightly creaked open door silently, and they each peek into the crack. Inside Agni is seated on an expensive looking couch and an English man stands nearby with a self righteous smirk.

“You’ve done a great job Agni,” the English man lights a cigar, “everything is going perfectly to plan,” he steps closer to Agni who remains impassive, “why don’t you have a cigar to celebrate?”

The Indian man merely clenches his jaw and glances away, the man sighs, “your loss I suppose, these are very expensive ones,” Ciel rolls his eyes and this and mumbles, “self absorbed ass…”

Anastasia tries not to laugh and prince soma gasps quietly as the Englishman grips Agnis bandaged arm aggressively, “with this holy hand, I shall acquire my dream at last!”

Agni grimaces and stares at the man, “and if I continue Meena will-“

The prince suddenly slams open the door with a cry, “Meena!?”

Sebastian yanks Ciel from view as he and Anastasia swiftly move away from the open doorway. Ciel's eyes widen in bewilderment and he hisses quietly, “that idiot! I told him not to make a scene!”

Anastasia sighs and shakes her head as she peers over Sebastian's shoulder, “I suppose he is just a lovesick fool after all.”

“Who the hell is this?” The English man takes a puff of his cigar with a raised eyebrow, and prince soma grips a surprised Agni by the front of his clothes, “you knew where Meena was!?”

“M-my prince!” Agni stutters with a slightly opened mouth and the Englishman nods, “ah! So this is your master, eh?”

Soma grits his teeth and points at the man, “Agni! Beat this man up!” 

Silence ensues and Ciel smacks his forehead quietly, “what is he doing…”

The prince throws a hurt look at his butler, “Agni..? Why aren’t you doing anything..”

The Indian butler stands stock still with a very conflicted expression and the Englishman chuckles around his cigar, “Agni, why don’t you throw this annoying prince out.”

Prince soma suddenly glances between the two in shock, and Agnis eyes widen even further as he glances between his two masters.

“How troublesome,” Sebastian sighs, “we may have to intervene.”

Ciel frowns, “I suppose, but West will definitely recognize us.”

Anastasia suddenly stands, “then how about I go,” she winks with a grin, “he hasn’t seen me before.”

Ciel sighs, “I suppose,” he crosses his arms, “just be quick about it.”

Anastasia chuckles, “so bossy..”

She bursts into the room with as much oomph as the prince, all eyes land on her, and Angi’s mouth hangs open as he whispers her name, “Anastasia..?”

She smiles sweetly and bows with a hand over her heart, “I apologize for the intrusion,” her soft voice fills the room, “I have come to retrieve the young prince.”

West narrows his eyes at her, having not heard Agni speaking, “now who the hell is this?”

She grins with her hands clasped in front of herself, “just a person sent to take the prince away.” Prince Soma gapes at her, with tears still in his eyes from Agni’s betrayal.

The Englishman grits his teeth and waves his hand at her dismissively, “Agni get rid of this woman!”

The Indian man freezes at this request, “but sir, I-“

“Just do it!” West explodes with anger and narrows his eyes at the man, “or do you want me to go back on my promise?”

Agni’s face becomes grim at this and Anastasia smirks as he begins to slowly unwrap his bandaged arm.

The prince mumbles with surprise written all over his face, “Angi…”

Anastasia swiftly dodged and grabs the prince as Agni lunches at her with speed, “I suppose that’s my cue to leave.” She taunts the man with a grin and he continues blindly swiping at her, destroying the room in his haste.

West begins crying about the various expensive objects Agni destroys in a rage and Anastasia ducks back into the hallway with prince soma in tow.

Sebastian nods to her and picks up Ciel, the boy latches onto his butler as West’s voice leaks into the hallway, accompanied by the crushing sound of Agni destroying various objects.

“We have to leave before the commotion gets too big,” Anastasia picks up the Prince with a nod, who merely remains still and sniffling sadly.

Back in the manor, Ciel, prince soma, and Anastasia are seated in the study, each with cups of tea in their hands.

Ciel sighs, “I suppose this means West and Agni are our culprits.”

Prince soma frowns with tears running down his cheeks still, “I don’t understand,” Anastasia glances up at him over the rim of her teacup and the prince suddenly becomes angry.

“Why would he do this to me!” He swipes his hands along the table, taking the tea set with him, and it all lands on Anastasia with a clash.

The prince sits up with a guilty expression, “Anastasia..I’m so sorry..” she sighs with a slightly angry expression and sets down her teacup slowly.

Sebastian moves to help her pick all the shards of the ceramic tea set from her lap, and throws an angry glare at the prince, who gulps heavily.

He suddenly starts crying again and runs from the room, loudly wailing down the hallway.

Ciel scoffs, “what a child,” Anastasia hums in agreement and stands up after she and Sebastian finish removing all of the broken ceramic, “if you’ll excuse me,” she glares down at the stain on the front of her grey dress, “I’ve got to wash up.”

“I suppose I shall have to go and teach him some manners,” Sebastian watches Anastasia leave with narrowed eyes.

Ciel glances up at his angry butler with a smirk, “you must avenge your lady, eh?”

Sebastian chuckles menacingly, “he destroyed one of my masters tea sets, what else should I do?”

The prince sniffles in his blanket cocoon, and stares at his wall sadly. The sound of his door bursting open and angry footsteps, forces him to glance up in concern. 

Sebastian’s angry eyes meet his own and he shudders, the butler rips the blankets from the prince's body and he shouts, “hey!”

He scrambles away with a cry, “what the hell do you think you’re doing! That’s rude!”

The butler lets out a dark laugh, “you’re calling me rude? After you just destroyed one of my masters tea sets and spilled hot tea all over miss Anastasia?”

The prince has the decency to look sheepish, and Sebastian continues with a frown, “you’re just a spoilt little brat,” he chuckles, “what a child you are without your precious Agni by your side.”

The prince jumps out of bed and dashed towards the bedroom door, in an attempt to escape. Sebastian’s gloved hand slams into the door, keeping it shut, and stopping the prince from moving.

“Why, you’ve never even had anything of your own have you?” The butler continues with a devious smirk, “a palace and servants from your parents,” the prince's eyes widen in shock, and the butler's lips curl even higher, “no one ever seems to have actually cared for you, how sad.”

Prince Somas eyes fill with tears as he looks away, and a voice from the doorway makes the two look up, “that’s a little too cruel don’t you think Sebastian?”

Anastasia stands with her arms crossed, in a new dress, the prince sniffles and goes to hug her. 

She stops him with a glare and a palm in his face, “I haven’t forgiven you yet,” she scoffs, “to think you’d embarrass me in front of company,” she begins to mumble, “I definitely won’t be telling the undertaker about that part.”

Sebastian grins softly at her, and Ciel suddenly appears by her side with his arms crossed, “you shouldn’t be so hard on him Sebastian,” he keeps his eyes at the ground, and begins to mumble, “after all I could have ended up the same way.”

The rooms mood suddenly becomes somber, and Ciel grits his teeth, “I have to be strong in order to avenge my family,” he narrows his eyes up at the prince, “at any cost, that is my goal, that means I don’t have any time to be weak,”

He sighs, “Sebastian, Anastasia, I wish to talk with you about this West situation,” he turns away, “come.”

Sebastian bows slightly and the two demons begin to follow the boy, prince soma suddenly shouts, “wait Ciel!” 

The earl throws a glance over his shoulder, and the prince continues, “you may be younger than me, but you’re obviously much more mature,” the older boy looks up with a determined glint in his eyes, “I want to ask Agni his reason, and so I must ask you-“

Ciel stops him with a hand, and Anastasia giggles a bit, “no, I’m too busy at the moment,” the prince instantly deflates, and Ciel turns around with a small smirk, “but that doesn’t mean we’ll make the effort of keeping you locked up here.”

He begins walking away again and the prince suddenly tackles him with a cry, “Ciel!! You’re so kind!”

Anastasia chuckles quietly and the prince steps away from Ciel, “I apologize for breaking the tea set,” his eyes shift onto Sebastian, who still had a slightly angry expression on his face. 

At seeing the butlers expression, the prince turns to Anastasia nervously, “a-and you too,” he bows to her a bit, “I apologize for spilling the tea on you,” his eyes land on Sebastian, who is still frowning, “a-and breaking the cups on you.”

Anastasia chuckles softly, “don’t worry about it for now prince soma,” she glances at Ciel with a smirk, “we’ve got a job to do don’t we?”

“So far all we know is that West is planning something that has to do with Agni’s ‘hand of god’, we just don’t know what,” Ciel lets out a sigh, and rests his chin in his hand.

“And that Agni is the one committing the recent crimes under west’s orders,” Anastasia replies with an amused smile as she watches the prince flinch away from Sebastian, who sets a cup of tea in front of him silently.

“P-perhaps there’s some sort of event?” Prince Soma glances warily at Sebastian before sipping on his teacup cautiously.

Ciel hums and glances up at his butler, “what sort of events are happening this week?”

Sebastian thinks a moment, “a choir and an opera concert, an Indian culture exhibit and a world currency exhibit are all happening within the next week or so.”

“Indian culture,” Anastasia glances at Ciel, “that sounds promising.”

Ciel thinks, and Sebastian raises an eyebrow, “do you need me to explain the exhibit young master?”

Ciel blushes a bit and grumbles, “just say it already.”

The butler chuckles, “the exhibit, which shall be held in the crystal palace, will show off the English achievements in India as well as having a curry contest in the evening,” Sebastian throws an amused glance at Ciel, “you were invited to be a judge in said contest young master.”

Ciel rolls his eyes, and Anastasia chuckles, “how exciting.”

“There is a rumor that the queen may attend the contest, being a curry lover herself,” Sebastian mentions with a small smile at his master's disgruntled display. 

Ciel waves his hand dismissively at this and rolls his eyes, “I suppose that would explain why West is doing so much,”

Anastasia sips her tea with a grin, “it seems you’ve solved the case, little earl.” 

As Ciel glares at Anastasia, Prince Soma glances between them, thoroughly confused, “can somebody please explain? I don’t understand at all.”

Anastasia smirks, and sets her tea cup down, “it seems West is after a royal warrant.” 

The prince becomes even more confused, “royal warrant? What’s that?”

Ciel sighs and closes his eyes, “a royal warrant is an esteemed achievement given by the royal family to various companies,” he rubs his temple a bit, “it’s basically a guaranteed way to gain more customers when running a business.”

“So West is basically using Agni to gain a royal warrant through this curry contest.” Anastasia leans back into her chair a bit and sighs into her teacup, “it does seem a bit excessive don’t you think? Why even go through the trouble to string up all those nobles.”

Ciel huffs, “he’s obviously eliminating the competition for the contest.”

“It seems as though you’ve got it all figured out young master,” Sebastian refills Anastasia's cup and grins at his master, and Anastasia smirks as well, “well done Ciel,”

The boy rolls his eyes and Pribce soma shoots out of his chair, “wait a minute! What about Agni and Meena!”

A sharp glance from Sebastian sends the prince back into his chair with a sheepish expression, and Ciel rolls his eyes at the childish exclamation, “well that certainly has nothing to do with me, so I don’t care.”

The prince deflates into his chat with a frown and he mumbles a bit, “I suppose you’re right..” he clenches his fist at his side and gulps, “I shall figure it out on my own!”

Anastasia claps a bit, “how mature of you prince soma!” The prince blushes a bit and looks away from her.

Ciel glances up at Sebastian with a smirk, “you know, it really was inconvenient to be called to London over this little issue,” Sebastian smirks in response, and Ciel continues, “I should be rewarded don’t you think?”

Anastasia chuckles, “I suppose you won’t be needing any more of my help little earl,” she stands up from her chair slowly, “i should get back to work.”

Sebastian perks up a bit and glances down at Ciel with a slight bow, “would you excuse me, I must see miss Anastasia out.”

The boy waves his hand dismissively, “fine, fine, just get back soon so we can discuss how we shall obtain the royal warrant for ourselves.”

Sebastian smirks to his master and leaves the room behind Anastasia, who waves goodbye to Ciel and the prince.

At the front door Anastasia is dressed in her coat prepared for the trek home, Sebastian plants a kiss onto the back of her hand, “I’m sad to see you go my lady.”

As he straightens up again, she chuckles, “perhaps we shall see each other at the curry contest, I am excited to see what you have in store to win.”

He smirks in response, “are you asking me to win my lady?” Anastasia huffs out a bit of laughter, “if that’s all it takes to motivate you.”

He hums, “well perhaps you can motivate me a bit more..?” She grins and stands up onto her toes to plant a kiss on the demon's cheek. 

She leans in close to his ear, “there, now win for me.” She waves goodbye with a sultry gaze and escapes through the front door with a gust of cold air.

Sebastian huffs out a small laugh and shakes his head, ‘I suppose I have no choice but to win now’ his eyes flash a demonic magenta for a moment, ‘how exciting’.


	7. Chapter 7

The musty air of the Undertakers shop was disturbed by the sudden onslaught of sunlight streaming in from the windows Anastasia had just opened.

The Undertaker lets out a small groan as the light hits his eyes, “why are ‘oll the windows open?” Anastasia emerges from outside, dressed in an apron and her usual grey dress, with a feather duster in her hands. 

“It’s about time we cleaned this place up a bit, don’t you think?” She begins dusting off the various surfaces around the room with a smile, and throws open yet another of the few windows around the shop.

The Undertaker grimaces at the light a bit, before sitting onto the nearest coffin with a yawn, “you sure seem cheery today, do ye’ not?” He smirks at her as she picks up a nearby tablecloth with a frown, “going to see yer lover boy, my dear?” 

Her cheeks light up with a small blush, and she faces him with a bewildered expression, “l-lover boy?” The Undertaker's face breaks out into a wide grin and he begins giggling, she throws the feather duster at him with a flustered frown, “I’m only going out by myself today,” she sends a quick glare in his direction, “nothing special.”

The silver haired man waves his hand at her while still slumped over a coffin and giggling crazily, she huffs before leaving to shake out the dusty tablecloth outside.

A few hours later, the shop is as clean as it can get, and Anastasia is dressed in a simple blue gown. She pulls on a pair of white gloves and calls out into the shop's dark interior, “Undertaker! I’m heading out now, do you want me to get you anything?”

The Undertakers grey head pops out of one of the coffins silently, and he grins, “just bring me back some stories of you an’ lover boy~” 

She huffs indignantly with another blush and storms out of the shop, the undertaker's faint laughter trails after her and onto the street.

“Oh wow!” The sound of Finny’s cheery voice draws Anastasia's attention from the display she was looking over, and she grins as she watches the boy gaze with wonder at an Elephant.

“What is that thing?” Bard speaks next, while scratching his head.

Anastasia stalks towards the group silently and cuts in, “its an Elephant,” the trio of servants jump in shock, and the prince flinches away from her, “A-Anastasia! I didn’t know you were coming.”

She smiles at him, and Ciel joins the group with his permanent frown and Sebastian in tow, “how do you manage to find us so often is what I wish to know.”

Anastasia chuckles at this, “it just seems to be fate little earl,” she glances up at Sebastian with a wink, “I did promise to come and watch Sebastian win after all.”

The boy hums in response, and Sebastian offers her a small bow and smirk, “my lady.” 

“Hello~” a new voice draws the groups attention, “what a coincidence that we should run into one another here, eh~?” Lau lounges on a bench nearby, with a small Chinese woman sitting in his lap. 

Ciel scoffs a bit at him, “you really brought one of those women here?” Anastasia, upon recognizing Ran-Mao from Lau’s ‘den’, waves with a smile. The woman waves back with her usual blank expression.

Lau hums, “oh you mean Ran-Mao?” He smiles dumbly and pets the top of her head, “she’s my sister, though not by blood of course.”

Ciel rolls his eyes and the group begins to walk away, now with Anastasia and Lau in tow. The trio of servants had decided to stay behind and let Prince Soma explain what all the exhibits were.

“So you actually plan to go through with this contest, eh butler?” Lau walks in stride with Ciel, and Sebastian smirks, “of course, if I couldn’t do this much what kind of butler would I be?”

Anastasia and Ciel both roll their eyes at this, and a sudden voice calling for Ciel stops the group's movement, “ah! If it isn’t lord Phantomhive! How lovely to see you.”

Harold West tipped his hat towards Ciel, and the boy froze for a moment, ‘shit! He’ll surely recognize Anastasia.”

“Oh, Lord West,” the boy remained calm and his eyes darted around the group for a moment, before landing on Anastasia, whose face was hidden behind Sebastian’s tall form.

He let out a relieved puff of air, and West continued talking, “It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other Ciel,” West lets his haughtiness leak into his voice, “tell me what sort of brands do you wear as an Earl my lord.”

Ciel looked away in a bored fashion, “I don’t really care about that sort of thing, my butler picks my clothes.”

Anastasia almost giggles at this, but stifles it behind her hands. Ciel hears her muffled sounds and glares up at her for a moment, West follows his gaze and raises an eyebrow, “oh! Please forgive my rudeness my lady, I hadn’t noticed you,”

‘Shit.’ The group collectively sweatdrops, minus the ever-smiling Lau of course, and Anastasia bows her head silently towards the man.

As she straightens up and meets his eyes, West crosses his arms with a finger to his chin in thought, “have we met before, I swear I’ve seen your face somewhere..” as his voice trails off, Sebastian comes to the rescue, “ah! I think the contest is about to start!”

This draws Wests attention from Anastasia, “oh? Really,” he laughs and lifts his hat to Ciel with a grin, “well I’m off to win a royal warrant, goodbye for now Earl!”

Anastasia lets out a sigh as the man walks away and Ciel scoffs, “he’s very confident that he’ll win.”

Lau grins with a shrug, “I suppose you plan to prove him wrong, hmm~?”

Ciel smirks, “of course, I can’t wait to crush him.”

Sebastian chuckles at this, Anastasia rolls her eyes and mumbles, “you’re also being quite cocky,”

The butler bows a small bit after throwing the woman an amused glance, “I suppose I should go and prepare,” 

“Very well,” Ciel waves his hand dismissively and Anastasia smiles at the demon, “be sure to win.”

He smirks at her, “of course I shall win, how could I not?”

As the butler walks away, Anastasia turns to Ciel with a grin, “well Ciel, shall we go and watch?”

“I don’t see why you have to come,” the boy sighs, “but fine,”

Anastasia walks with a grin, “you enjoy my company Ciel,” she winks at him, “you just don’t know it yet.”

As the group settles into their spots in the crowd, a man comes onto the stage with a wide smile, “welcome to the special curry contest held here at our Indian culture festival!” 

He features to a long table of seated men with a wide sweep of his arm, “here are our judges for today! A palace chef, Mr. Hiram!” The man is dressed in full chef garb, and has a very stern expression.

“A tax collector from India, Mr. Carter!” The man continues with his smile in tact.

“A tax collector? To judge curry?” Anastasia whispers to Ciel with a small puff of laughter, the boy smiles a bit in response.

“-and the Viscount Druitt!” Ciel freezes up at this and an uneasy shiver shakes his body, and the women in the crowd cry out in happiness.

Anastasia, in contrast, crosses her arms with a frown, “this guy again? How is he even out of prison already?”

Ciel grits his teeth angrily, “bastard must have paid well..”

The announcer continues as cheerfully as ever, “and here are today’s contestants!” He gestures to the other side of the stage, where Agni and Sebastian among other chefs stand at the ready.

“Now that we’re all ready!” The announcer pumps his fist into the air, “let the contest begin!”

The men quickly move to their stations and begin cooking their curries, the scent of spices quickly fill the air. Lau sighs wistfully, after suddenly appearing by Ciels side, “I guess now all we have to do is wait..”

Ciel jumps a bit in suprise, before sending a glaretowards the man, “why don’t you try and do it silently?”

Anastasia laughs a bit, “oh come now Ciel, he says some amusing stuff sometimes, let him talk.”

The boy rolls his eyes and Lau grins at her from above the placid Ran-Mao. A collective gasp could be heard from the crowd and a man suddenly shouted, “look at that!”

The group's eyes follow the man's pointing finger and land on Agni, who seemed to be cooking curry as though possessed. “He does cook with a lot of enthusiasm,” Anastasia mumbles.

Ciel hums in response, and Lau points to Sebastian next, “Sebastian is doing quite good as well, don’t you think Ran-Mao?” 

The woman nods her head silently as they watch Sebastian cook with much of the same vigor. 

“What the hell is he doing?!” Another person from the crowd cries out, and they glance over to see Sebastian throwing a bar of chocolate into his pot of curry with a smirk.

“That idiot.” Ciel slaps his forehead, and Anastasia giggles, “I’m sure he has good reason little earl, don’t doubt him now.” A wink followed the second half of her statement and Ciel sighed.

Agni is the only person who seems to be truly shocked by Sebastian's idea, but not in a negative way. He grits his teeth, ‘I cannot lose!’, and pulls something out from under the table. Another collective gasp blankets the crowd as it is revealed.

“A blue lobster!” The Viscount suddenly stands from his seat at the judges table dramatically, “a beautiful animal, with a shell that wraps around its body like a dress wraps around a lady!” He brings a hand to his forehead as though swooning, “not to mention the soft flesh on the inside of that beautiful encasing!”

The ladies in the crowd sigh at his declaration and both Anastasia and Ciel grimace a bit in disgust. “That certainly wasn’t very pleasing coming from him.” Anastasia mumbles again and Ciel frowns in agreement silently.

West’s high laughter could be heard from the front of the crowd, “ha! You have to use the best ingredients when making curry! So I got the best!” The crowd murmurs excitedly at his proclamation, and Ciel frowns a bit.

Lau hums, “my~ what is the butler doing now I wonder?”

The two look up at Sebastian, only to see him making a bunch of neat balls of dough. Ciel slaps his forehead again and mumbles, “he must be joking,” 

Anastasia chuckles, “I suppose some dinner rolls could go with curry?” Even she seems to be doubting Sebastian a bit and Ciel huffs out a laugh.

The announcer comes onto stage again, with his familiar smile, “the curries should all be done now! So let’s head into the tasting!”

The first few chefs are eliminated for using curry powder. The judges finally reach Agni, who presents his curry with a solemn expression, “I present, an imperial feast, five types of curry all paired with the lobster.”

The first judge, a royal chef, takes a bite and immediately begins to stare at his plate in shock, “delicious! The flavors mix so perfectly with the softness of the lobster!”

The Viscount takes a bite next, and launches into another of his dramatic comparisons, “oh this is just like the beautiful lady I met at the ball!” He stands with his hands clasped over his heart, “with so many beautiful gems adorning your hair! You stole my heart!”

The ladies in the crowd cheer once more, and Anastasia chuckles a bit, “perhaps the Viscount should have pursued theatre.” Ciel rolls his eyes with a smirk.

“I commend you for your delicious curry sir,” the royal chef speaks again, and Agni bows, “thank you for your praise.”

The announcer presents himself again, “now the butler of the phantom hive company, Sebastian, will present his curry!” 

One of the judges speaks, “butler..?” And Sebastian smirks before unveiling his curry.

A hush decends onto the crowd, and one of the judges cries out, “what is this?” He points at the roll on Sebastians tray, “it’s just a ball of dough!”

Sebastian doesn’t explain and picks up the ball before dropping it into the pot of oil beside himself. As it begins to fry the judge cries out again, “is this some type of joke?!”

Ciel closes his eyes and sighs, “we are sure to lose now.” 

Lau grins lazily, “now, now young lord. Shouldn’t you have more faith in your butler?” 

Ciel ignores the man with a frown, and Anastasia giggles a bit.

Sebastian presents the cooked balls of dough to the judges, and they scoff a bit, “this is simply a ball of dough, where is the curry?”

The tax collector cuts open his food and his gasp draws the attention of the other judges. They quickly cut into their own and the royal chef takes a bite, “oh my! The curry was on the inside, and it’s flavor is so good!”

The Viscount also takes a bite, and his own gasp leaves the ladies of the crowd reeling, “oh this is-!” He picks his plate up into the air with a smile, “this is my beautiful robin! Your pink dress, your childlike laughter! All make me want to hold you close!”

Ciel shivers at this and Anastasia laughs breathlessly for a moment, “that sounds a bit too familiar..” Ciel grits his teeth and hisses at her, “shut up!”

“You’ve managed to make the dough fluffy, while keeping the chicken in the curry soft and flavorful,” the chef faces Sebastian with a respectful expression after the Viscount finishes, “This is truely innovative in every aspect, I commend you as a chef of the highest rank sir.”

Sebastian lets out a soft chuckle and places his hand on his heart, “thank you for the praise sir, but I am merely a butler.”

The announcer comes on stage again after the judges finish praising Sebastian, “the judges will now discuss the winner of our contest! Until the winner is decided, please try any of the curries you like!”

The crowd around them quickly disperses to the tables of curry nearby, and the judges huddle together to talk. 

“That idiots little stunt better have not cost us the win.” Ciel inspects the crowds with a stern expression and his arms crossed.

Anastasia giggles a bit, “oh come on Ciel, it has been fun either way don’t you think?” He throws an annoyed glance up at her and she smiles, “why don’t you try one of them?” 

He sighs, “I don’t like spicy food.” Anastasia rolls her eyes and her next statement is cut off by the announcer, “everyone! The judges have come to a decision!” 

The crowd falls into baited silence and the man begins to speak, “the winner is-!”

“Excuse me for a moment!” A new voice cuts off the announcement, and the crowd gasps a bit.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, for a bitch who was originally gonna cut the whole circus arc out, I sure do have a lot of ideas for it. I honestly haven't felt this inspired about anything in a long time, good shit is to come!!

“Excuse me,” the new voice belongs to a man with white hair, and a pair of black goggles over his eyes, “please wait a moment.”

A horse with a rider suddenly appears by the stage, and Ciel gasps with a flustered expression, “y-your majesty!”

Anastasia raises her eyebrows, “oh my..”

The queen lifts her own goggles, exposing her smiling face, “hello everyone!” 

Ciel remains in shock, gaping at the queen as she hops off her horse with the strange man's assistance, and the crowd begins murmuring excitedly, “This contest has been quite lovely!” She sighs wistfully, “it reminds me of a time I had curry with Albert..” she breaks off into a soft sob for a moment, and the strange man rushes forward to comfort her silently.

Anastasia shakes Ciels shoulder to take him out of his shocked revere for a moment and he clears his throat. The queen suddenly breaks from her seemingly temporary melancholy, “I was invited as a judge, so I too get a vote in who wins!”

Her sudden proclamation causes Agni and Sebastian to stand straighter from their positions on stage, and the murmurs from the crowd become slightly louder, Ciel grits his teeth in anticipation.

The queen steps onto the stage with a smile, and points towards Sebastian, “I vote the funtom company’s butler, Sebastian.”

Agnis face falls into shock, and West suddenly explodes with anger from the front of the cheering crowd, “but why? All he did was fry some dough balls!”

The queen smiles endearingly at the englishman, “because he managed to make a curry that was easy for all to eat. Men, women and children can all enjoy this curry equally.” She turns to Sebastian and pats his arm, “you’ve done well, I highly approve of you taking the children into account.”

Sebastian smiles uncertainly at this, but accepts graciously nonetheless, “thank you my lady.” Anastasia giggles a bit and his eyes flash over to her for a moment with a smirk.

Agni remains frozen in his spot, with a shocked expression, “I, lost..?”

The queen approaches him, “not at all, your curry is one that I would love to eat in the palace myself!” Agni blushes at this, and bows slightly, “I am unworthy of such praise.”

West stumbles away from the scene, clutching his head as though in pain, “my plan, my royal warrant...”

A woman suddenly runs towards him with a cry, “my lord!”

Just as she reaches him in an attempt to wrap her arms around his waist, the prince's voice can be heard, “Meena!”

She looks over in shock and Prince Soma quickly engulfs her in a hug, scooping her away from West in the process, “I thought I’d lost you forever!” 

As he pulls away to look at her face, and she suddenly breaks out into an angry glare, “are you stupid or something?”

Anastasia, Sebastian and Ciel glances over at the two in surprise, and Ciel sighs with a shake of his head, “this is going to be messy.”

The prince stands in shock at her ourburst, and she continues talking, “why did you even come here, to take me back?” 

The prince slowly nods at this, still in shock, and Meena grits her teeth, “why would I ever want to go back? I’m tired of being held back by the caste, I took so much effort to get out of there, and yet here you are!”

The prince starts to tear up, “just go home, and leave me be!” She turns away and leaves with a shell shocked West in tow.

Prince Soma remains standing with tears running down his astonished face silently, and Agni falls to his knees on stage, “my prince...I’m so sorry.” the man puts his hands over his face, “all of my efforts were in vain…”

Prince soma suddenly climbs onto the strange silently, “Agni, I know I’ve been selfish,” the taller Indian looks up in shock at his prince, “but..would you still like to be my khana-sama?”

The Indian butler's eyes overflow with tears and he hugs Prince Soma, “jyo ajha!”

Anastasia smiles a bit, “how wonderful, a lovely make up.” Ciel rolls his eyes and glances over at the two indian men, who were embracing each other happily, “I suppose it could have gone by worse.”

“Ah, a fairytale ending,” the queen approaches the group again, “isn’t that right, child?” 

Anastasia muffles a laugh at the queen's nickname and Ciels entire face lights up, “I-I thought I asked you not to call me that!”

Sebastian stands at Anastasia's side and smiles as well. The queen covers her own smile with one gloved hand, “oh? Did you? But you’re such a cute little boy” she suddenly lunges forward and traps Ciel into a hug, “you're just so cute, I can't resist!”

Anastasia desperately reigns in her laughter as Ciel tosses her and Sebastian a glare over his shoulder. He clears his throat as the queen lets him go with a grin, “your majesty, why did you venture all the way out here, just for the contest?”

She smiles, “Well I was around town and I heard you were here and decided to visit,” she pats Ciel's head, “you never send any letters so I figured I’d surprise you!”

Ciel looks down with a self-depreciative frown, “you shouldn’t have to talk to somebody like me very often.”

The queen sighs sadly at this, “don’t say that Ciel, you take your job so seriously, you remind me so much of your father in that regard.” 

Ciel remains silent at this and the queen pats him one more time before mounting her horse again, “I’ll send somebody with the papers for the royal warrant later today,” she waves before spurring her horse, “goodbye Ciel! Have some fun for me hmm?”

The strange man sprints after her after shaking hands with Sebastian, and Ciel crosses his arms, “she's still the same as always…”

Anastasia chuckles a bit, “she always acts like that?” Her gaze turns towards Sebastian who shrugs with a grin.

Prince Soma suddenly calls out to Ciel, “I want to thank you for winning…”

Anastasia turns away with a chuckle, and Sebastian faces her with a smirk, “do you plan to congratulate me on my win as well, my lady?”

She rolls her eyes endearingly, “I can guess where Ciel learned his cockiness now at least,” he raises his eyebrows expectantly, and she giggles a bit, “fine, fine, you may have one dance with me whenever you wish. Is that sufficient sir?”

Her teasing question made him chuckle and he nods, “I suppose that will do for now.”

“Sebastian!” The trio of servants' high pitched squeals cause Anastasia to step away with a muffled laugh, as they practically try to tackle Sebastian to the ground in a hug.

He remains standing with a slightly annoyed expression, and Mey-Rin speaks first, “you won, yes you did!”

Finny lets him go with an awed grin, “the buns were so tasty!” Bard simply nodded in agreement and smiled around his cigarette, “we never doubted ya’ for a second.”

The trio notices Anastasia after a moment of gushing and Finny is the first to acknowledge her, “ah, miss Anastasia again!”

She waves at the excited group with a pleasant smile, “hello!”

Agni suddenly comes from behind and approaches Sebastian, he deeply bows, “Mr. Sebastian, I have to apologize for my actions,”

The three servants step away to watch in amazement, and Sebastian quickly brings the man back to standing, “Agni, there is no need for that, please stand.”

Agni raises himself with an unsure smile, “I didn’t know if coming to England was good at first,” he glances over at the prince, who was in the middle of sobbing and hugging a very disgruntled Ciel, “but the prince seems to have grown from the experiences here.”

Agni glances between both Anastasia and Sebastian, “I feel that I must thank you both,”

Anastasia chuckles a bit, and pats him on the arm comfortingly, “there is no need for apologizing Agni, you both fought in the competition for different reasons,”

Ciel begins to walk away and the rest of the group follows, Sebastian continues the conversation, “you both have realized your faults,” he glances at the prince for a moment, and then back to Agni, “just like your gods Kali and Shiva.”

Agni seems to become enchanted by this, “to think that I would have my ideals taught to me again by an Englishman.” He trails off with a chuckle, Sebastian and Anastasia chuckle as well.

The group watches the sun set behind the windows of the glass palace. The silence is only broken as Prince Soma suddenly grips Ciel into a tight hug, “Meena!!!” His sobs ring out through the building and Ciel attempts to shake him off, “she’s really gone!”

“Will you get off of me!” Ciel lets out an annoyed cry, as the prince buries his face into the smaller boy's shoulder.

Anastasia laughs at this and Agni smiles, “I’m glad we came,” he glances at Anastasia and Sebastian again, “we both made good friends.”

Sebastian seems taken aback by this, “friends..?” Anastasia tosses him a sympathetic glance and he huffs out a short laugh, “I don’t think anybody has called me a friend in a long time.”

As they reach the entrance, Anastasia waves goodbye to the group, “I suppose I should head back now,” she pats Ciel's head, and the boy glares at her a bit, “goodbye for now Ciel, don’t forget to call me if you need help.”

She winks at the boy, and Sebastian takes her hand and places a kiss onto the back of it, “until next time my lady.”

Anastasia smiles all the way back to the Undertaker's shop. Once inside she calls out, “I’m back!” She glances around the shop, which is once again dusty, and mumbles to herself as she wipes a finger along the dust covered counter, “ugh, this place never stays clean.”

The undertaker peeks out of the back room, as his eyes land on her smiling face, he giggles, “have a fun time dearie?”

She waves her clean hand at him with an eye roll, “I’m not going to tell you anything if you make fun of me,” she locks the front door behind herself, and throws him a teasing glance, “a lot happened today that I think you’ll love~”

He perks up at this and pushes his palms together, “okay okay, I promise not to make fun o’ ya, now tell me!”

She giggles and settles onto a coffin nearby, ‘it'll be another long night I suppose.”

As Anastasia fades from view Ciel turns around with a sigh, Sebastian glances down at his master, “should we head home young lord?”

Ciel crosses his arms with a small nod, “I’d like to have some tea,” 

The butler smirks, “should we have some of my prizewinning curry for dinner.”

Ciel glares up at the demon, “don’t even joke right now,” Ciel lets a slightly disgusted expression cross along his face, “I dont even wish to smell curry for at least another month.”

“Ah! Right,” Sebastian chuckles and pulls a letter from thin air, “the queen's butler handed this to me earlier.”

Ciel takes it from him with a scoff, “and you didn’t think to tell me earlier?” Sebastian shrugs with a smile, and Ciel rips through the queens wax seal.

“Tickets?” He mumbles, Sebastian peeks over his shoulder at the pink slips of paper in his masters hands, “to the circus,” he smirks, “I suppose the queen wanted to give a Christmas gift fit for a little boy.”

Ciel glares up at him and grits his teeth, “shut up.” Sebastian chuckles and lets it go, “I suppose we'll be staying in London for a bit longer, young lord.” Ciel lets out a long suffering sigh.

Laughter spills into the brisk December night air, the circus is in town, and the lights of the tents cut through the darkness.

A man dressed in an eccentric outfit, and a painted face smiles into the crowd around him, “come one come all! Come to the circus and drown your sorrows in happiness!” 

A man nearby breathes fire to the amazement of a crowd of onlookers and the man with the painted face laughs again, “let the show of the century start!”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double upload?? this is a really short chapter, but that is entirely my fault because I have no idea how to portion chapters correctly.
> 
> (the next few chapters may also be a bit slow as far as updating, due to the fact that I am swamped with schoolwork)

Anastasia wipes off her wet hands on the towel hanging over the nearby counter. She glances over at the Undertaker, who still has his bloody hands elbow deep in the most recent “customer”.

“Anastasia would you ‘and me the needle an’ thread?” The man doesn't look up at her and she smiles at the rare moment of seriousness from the normally humorous man, “one moment.”

As she reaches for the thread on top of a nearby shelf, stacked precariously with various jars and embalming tools, the bell on top of the store's door rings throughout the back of the shop.

She perks up, and calls to the front, “one moment please!” The Undertaker takes the thread with a grin and she raises an eyebrow at him questioningly, before swiftly moving to the front of the shop to greet the newcomers.

As her head peeks out of the back room, her face splits into a smile, “ah! Ciel,” she swiftly approaches the boy and ruffles his hair a bit, “have you come to visit me, how sweet.”

Ciel grimaces at the sight of the old blood stains on her apron, and Sebastian chuckles at his master, the boy throws him an angry glance before speaking to Anastasia, “we’re here on business.”

Anastasia waves to Sebastian in greeting with a warm smile, “well the Undertaker is a bit busy with a ‘customer’ right now,” she leads them to the nearby coffins, “why don’t you have a seat and tell me about your new case hmm?”

Ciel sighs with an eye roll, but does as she suggests. He settles onto the coffin closest to her, with Sebastian by his side, “the queen has sent me a Christmas present of sorts,” he shows her the letter filled with tickets. 

She giggles a bit, “aww did she send her ‘little boy’ a present?” The Undertaker suddenly bursts out laughing, and stumbles through the back doorway. He speaks through desperate gasps of air, “when Anastasia told me tha’ the queen called ye tha’, I could ‘ardly believe it!” 

He slumps over in a seat next to Anastasia, and Ciel scowls at the calmly smiling woman, “why did you have to tell him that part?” She shrugs innocently and Sebastian lets out a chuckle himself.

As the Undertaker finally calms down a bit, Ciel clears his throat with a tiny blush, “we need some information regarding some missing children,”

The Undertaker sits by Anastasia with a grin still on his face, “ah, of course, I suppose I could give ye the information fer free this time, since you’ve made me laugh plenty already, hehe~”

Anastasia winks at the boy and he frowns suspiciously. Sebastian hands over a thick stack of paper filled with photos of various missing children, “have either of you seen any of these children?”

Anastasia glances over at the papers as the Undertaker shifts through them leisurely, after a moment the silver haired man throws the stack back onto the coffin with a careless shrug, “I ‘aven’t seen any of ‘em pass through ‘ere little earl.”

Ciel grits his teeth, “then..?” Sebastian cuts in with a thoughtful expression, “then that means the children may not have been murdered in the underworld..”

As the butler trials off Anastasia smirks a bit, “and they might even still be alive, since nobody has found their corpses.”

Ciel sighs and thinks for a moment, “then I suppose that means we’ll have to observe the group up close..”

Anastasia claps her hands a bit with a grin, “aww, that means you can use the queen's Christmas gift, how wonderful.”

Ciel glares at her and Sebastian lets out a small chuckle. At this reaction she continues with a devious smirk, “ah! You may even have to join them!” Ciel lets a grimace pass over his face and the Undertaker giggles at the thought, “imagine tha’ little earl doin’ circus tricks!”

Anastasia laughs as well, and Ciel scoffs at the pair before turning away with a small blush, “we’re leaving Sebastian.”

The butler nods, and turns to grab the papers with a small smile curling at his lips. Anastasia winks at him and mumbles so that the earl can’t hear her, “if you should need any help, do call on me,” she grins at Sebastian, “I’d hate to miss anything fun.”

He bows to her with a chuckle, “I’ll be sure to remember my lady.” As he turns to go he suddenly stops as though forgetting something, “ah, I nearly left without this.”

Anastasia raises an eyebrow with a small humming sound, and Sebastian smirks before planting a swift kiss to her cheek. The Undertaker breaks out into laughter as the woman’s face turns a bright red.

Sebastian bows at her, ignoring the Undertakers hysterical laughter with a sly smirk, “good day my lady.”

She remains gaping at him with pink cheeks as he leaves and the Undertaker laughs a bit more, “ooh~ your lover boy is leaving my dear,” her face flushes a shade darker and she shoves the Undertaker’s shoulder with a hiss as he laughs, “will you shut up! He might’ve heard you!”

The Undertaker laughs even harder at this and she gets up with a scoff, “I’m going back to work!”

The Undertaker’s laughter fades into the background as she escapes to the back room again. A small huff escapes her lips, and the woman presses her palms to her cheeks in an attempt to cool them down, ‘what a fool I am’.

She shakes her head to clear her thoughts a bit, before picking up the discarded needle and thread and getting back to the interrupted work from before.

Ciel rubs his forehead as though he has a headache, ‘I can’t believe that idiot managed to get attacked by a tiger, in front of all those people no less!’ He throws a glance at Sebastian, who is seated across from him in the jostling carriage with a calm expression, ‘still, at least we got some valuable information out of it.’ 

“Young master,” the boy looks up at his butler once again, and Sebastian gives him a close eyed smile, “I may have failed to mention that I applied for us to join the circus.”

Ciel gapes in shock for a moment, before crying out, “you what!?” His face twinges a slightly red color, ‘no! There’s no way! She can’t have predicted this!’ He thinks back to Anastasia's smirking face and the sound of her voice saying, ‘you may even have to join them,’ it rings through his head as he stares blankly into space.

Back in the Undertaker's shop, Anastasia sneezes with her face pointed over her shoulder, away from the sketch of the newest body in front of her. 

The Undertaker mumbles a small ‘bless you’ which makes them both chuckle a bit at the irony.

She breathes in a small puff of air after a moment, and hums to herself thoughtfully, ‘somebody must be thinking of me..’

Sebastian chuckles behind his gloved hand at his master’s dazed expression, before clearing his throat a bit, “it’s only the entrance test for now,” the boy focuses again and grits his teeth as the butler continues with a smile, “but I have faith that you will succeed young master.”

The boy crosses his arms with a frown, “and why do I have to do this as well?” 

The demon smirks, “would you rather I do it unsupervised?” Ciel grits his teeth a bit and turns his gaze out the window for a moment, “...if it can’t be helped,” he sighs, “I’ll do it.”

Sebastian hums with a small grin and mumbles, “you truly do act just like a dog for the queen.”

The boy throws him an angry glance, and the rest of the ride home is filled with silence.

“Ciel!” Prince soma lunges at the earl with open arms, “you’re back!” 

The smaller boy dodges with a grimace, “I’m really not in the mood right now.”

Prince Soma gives him stricken puppy dog eyes as Sebastian sheds the earls coat with a small smile, “but Ciel, you must tell me how miss Anastasia is doing,” the Indian boy wraps his arms around Ciels neck with a frown, “and you have to teach me how to play chess.”

Ciel peels him off with a grimace and scoffs, “ask Sebastian if you wish to know about Anastasia,” he throws a sly glance at his butler, “he seems to know more about her than I do,” the boy then crosses his arms and glares at the prince, “and as for the chess, I’m too busy to be teaching you things right now.”

The butler decides to ignore his masters comment with a chuckle and puts the coat away, the prince cries out, “but Ciel! I’m so boreeed!”

Ciel rolls his eyes and begins walking upstairs, “then read a book or something, I’m tired.”

Sebastian trails after his master and looks over his shoulder at the prince, “the master will be able to play later, why don’t you get some rest?”

The prince sighs a bit before nodding and walking away sadly, Agni appears from the hallway and takes in the boys somber mood, “my prince, what is wrong?”

Soma lets his eyes tear up a bit, “Ciel said he was too tired to play, but I’m so bored!”

Agni smiles at his master's ever persistent childishness, “why don’t we go to the library and have some chai?” As the prince frowns some more, Agni places a hand on his shoulder, “it would be good to let Ciel rest, he is a very busy boy.”

The prince finally nods with a sigh after a moment, “fine…” Agni leads him away with a smile and a hand on the prince's arm.


	10. Chapter 10

The soft sound of a woman’s gentle humming cut through the usual silence of the shop, Anastasia is busy cleaning the cabinets.

After a moment she stops her humming and glances at the Undertaker, who sits in silence hunched over a freshly cleaned and preserved body, quietly checking it over for mistakes.

She sighs, “we’re nearly out of formaldehyde already,” her eyes wander over the numerous empty glasses stacked on the counter, “I don’t understand how we ran out so fast.”

She picks up one of the stained glasses with a grimace, “we may also need some new glasses,” the glass suddenly cracked in her hold and her eyes widened, “oh my!”

The Undertaker let out a giggle, “then perhaps you should get some errands done today.” Anastasia raised her eyebrow at the grinning man, and she threw away the ruined glass with a huff, “not even a please for my efforts.”

The Undertaker ignored her comment with a smile, and slouched back over the body to continue working, “get some snacks while yer out my dear.”

She rolled her eyes with a small smile, and put on her coat silently, “behave while I’m away,”

He showed her out the door with one hand, not looking up from her work. She let out a chuckle and shut the door behind herself with a grin. 

Anastasia's eyes wandered over the clear afternoon sky as she began walking to the town, and the peacefulness of the moment made her sigh with happiness, ‘I wonder how Ciel and Sebastian are doing on that case today,’

“Did you really have to throw stones at me like that!” Ciel hisses at his butler, and grips his bruised sides with a pained grimace.

Sebastian chuckles, “I apologize young master, but it worked in the end, did it not?” 

Ciel lets out a scoff, “I suppose, but you were too suspicious,” he thinks back to the butlers previous actions, during the ‘entrance exam’, “you showed off way too much for it to be normal!”

Sebastian shrugs with a blank smile, a sudden voice cuts off their hushed conversation, “since you’re members now, we’ve got to decide your new names!”

They both glance at the man, Joker, and he points at Sebastian after a thoughtful moment, “we’ll call you Black.” 

“Wait a minute!” Both Ciel and Sebastian glance over at the new voice, and Beast appears from the background with an angry expression on her face, “what the hell is this man doing here again?”

Joker lets out a slightly nervous chuckle, “they’re here to join the group of course,” Beasts mouth opens in shock, the red head cuts off her comment with a suave smile and a bony hand on her shoulder, “why don’t you go practice for a bit, I’ll join you once I get them settled.”

She lets her lips with a small blush, and steps away with a silent nod. Ciel and Sebastian watch the intimate scene silently, and they both glance at each other for a moment in silence, before looking back at Joker.

Beast leaves, with a small huff in Sebastians direction, and Joker turns towards Ciel with a grin, “sorry ‘bout that!” He pokes the boy's cheek, who glares at him a bit, “now! I think we should call you smile!”

Ciel raises an eyebrow and the man rests his hand on the boys shoulder with a grin, “give us a smile!”

Sebastian struggles to hold a laugh back and Ciel grits his teeth for a moment. His face breaks out into a sweet smile and jokers' eyes light up happily, “perfect!”

“Alright, come with me,” Joker gestures for them to follow, “this right here is the main tent,” he waves his hand to a large red and purple striped tent, “that’s the costume tent,” his bony fingers point to the plain tent nearby, “and those’d be the living quarters.”

Ciel glances at the small tents with a shiver of discontent, and Sebastian chuckles at his master’s obvious discomfort. 

Joker continues oblivious to the boys feelings, “the tents are separated between the higher up members and the newer ones,” 

He sees Ciels confused expression he explains further with a smile, “myself, Beast and Snake are a few of the higher up members,” he winks at the two, “it’s easy to get in there with the rest of us if you work hard enough.”

Ciel throws a glance at Sebastian with this, and the butler nods slightly in understanding. Joker claps his hands together with a wide grin, “now, let’s introduce you two to the team!”

Anastasia glances into the bakery window with a content expression, ‘I wonder what the Undertaker wanted to eat.’ She bends down a bit to look at the different pastries with curiosity.

Her pensive choosing is soon interrupted by a sudden voice crying out her name, “Anastasia! Is that you?” 

She straightens up with a small, ‘huh?’, and she lets a soft smile stretch onto her lips at the sight of her greeter, “Prince Soma, what a surprise.”

The Indian boy quickly hugged her with a grin, and she lets out a small ‘ah!’ At the sudden movement, “oh I just knew it was you!” He holds her at arm's length, “how have you been?”

Anastasia lets out a small huff of slightly uncomfortable laughter, “as well as usual I suppose,” the Prince smiles wide and nods, and Agni suddenly breaks through the crowd of people staring at the two.

“My prince! You shouldn’t run off like that, what if-“ the Indian butler cuts himself off as his eyes land on Anastasia, and the Prince rolls his eyes at his butlers worrying, “oh, Miss Anastasia, I didn’t realize the prince had found you here,” 

Agni lets out a small chuckle and Anastasia glances between the two with a small laugh, “what are you both still doing in London?” 

Prince Soma grins at her again as his face fills with joy, “didn’t he tell you?” He puffs up with pride, “Ciel left me in charge of his house while he’s away!” 

She sends a glance to Agni, who merely watches the prince with a fond smile, “how wonderful.”

Prince Soma nods enthusiastically, and Agni cuts in with a smile, “why don’t you come by for some tea my lady?” Her eyes widen in a bit of surprise again, and the man continues with a smile, “I’m sure Ciel won’t mind us having guests if it’s you.”

The Prince nods again and grabs her arm, “yes! And you can tell me how to play chess,” he frowns a small bit, “Ciel is always too busy to teach me.” 

She glances between the two with a bit of a bewildered expression, “I am supposed to be running errands for my employer at the moment,” as her voice trails off the Prince's face falls, and she huffs out a defeated breath, “but, I suppose I could visit for a small bit.”

The prince's eyes light up, “great! Agni will make us chai,” he wraps his arms around one of her own arms, and gestures for Agni to follow as he sets off at a brisk pace, “come Agni!”

“...and this here is our newest member, Suit!” As Joker finishes the introduction, Ciel and Sebastian’s eyes both widen in surprise at the sight of the last member. 

William T. Spears glares at the two from behind his glasses, and the reaper scoffs, “to think I’d find such a vile devil and his master here.”

Sebastian smoothly misses the reaper's scythe as it’s thrown at him with a calm expression, William pushes his glasses further up his nose, “where is that half-breed, don’t tell me she’s disappeared?”

Sebastian smirks a bit at that, “she’s not anywhere that you need to know about.”

The reaper glares at the demon and Ciel grits his teeth angrily, ‘that idiotic reaper is going to expose us!’

“Half-breed..?” Joker lets out an uncomfortable laugh, and waves his hands nervously after the moment of tense silence, “jeez, you guys are fighting like this over a woman?” 

William scoffs, “over her? Hardly.” Sebastian tosses him a slightly angry glance.

Joker laughs uncomfortably at the men and he wraps an arm around the reaper with a laugh after a moment, “well I mean, what’s with all the occult jokes comin’ outta you?”

Sebastian raises an eyebrow at this, and Ciel lets his mouth hang open in surprise for a moment, ‘he thinks it’s all a joke..?’

Willam rolls his eyes as he pushes up his glasses again, and remains stiff and indifferent under the man's jovial tone, “I’m not joking.”

Joker waves him off with a slight chuckle, “sure, sure,” he turns to the three ‘newcomers’ with a bright smile, “let’s discuss the bedding arrangements,” 

He pulls Ciel close to his side and points to a person nearby after a moment, “that’ll be your roommate there smile, they’ve been needin’ one so it’s perfect!”

Ciel lets a shocked expression leak onto his face as the person holds out a hand with a friendly smile, “hey smile, nice ta’ meetcha’!”

Joker smiles, “already gettin’ along!” He points at Sebastian, “and Black, you’ll be roomin’ with..” Jokers prosthetic finger lands on William with a laugh, “Suit!”

The two beings glare openly at each other at this, and joker shrugs his shoulders, “I hope you guys will work out your lady problems together.”

Ciel glances at Joker in shock at the arrangement, “B-black and I aren’t going to be together?”

Joker seems confused at this and turns to the boy with a finger on his chin, “do ya’ need to be?”

Sebastian lets out a chuckle at this, and Ciel blushes a small bit, “n-no! It’s just..” Joker cuts him off, “then it should be fine!” He walks away, while waving at them, “we start trainin’ tomorrow so get some rest!”

“I’m going to be honest Prince Soma,” Anastasia studies the chessboard placed in front of herself and the prince, “I’m not as good at chess as the little earl.”

“Huh?” The princes eyebrows come together in concern, “you mean he’s gonna beat me even more than you have?”

Anastasia lets out a slightly uncomfortable chuckle at this, “well you are still only on the basics right now, Prince Soma,” Agni fills her cup of tea with a smile, and the Prince slumps over in his chair.

“How am I supposed to get better then?” The boy lets out a small sigh, and begins to mumble, “I’m so bored of it already…” 

Anastasia giggles a bit behind her hand, “we have been playing for quite some time,” the group's eyes roam to the nearby window, which shows the sun much lower in the sky than when she had arrived.

Agni suddenly tosses a concerned glance in Anastasia's direction, “is your employer expecting you back soon?”

She suddenly sits up straighter, “I had almost completely forgotten about the time,” she shakes her head with a laugh, and stands from her chair, “I must be going before it gets too late in the evening,” she ruffles the princes maroon hair with a grin, “take care Prince Soma, I’ll show you around town another day.”

The prince nods with a slight frown at her manhandling of his hair, but bright eyes at the thought of her future prospects. Agni smiles at her, “please allow me to walk you out my lady.” 

She buttons her coat silently, and Agni opens the door with a pleasant smile, “please visit again, I’m sure the prince would be grateful for some more company,” 

Anastasia smiles at him and steps into the cool evening air, “I'll be sure to, good day Agni.”

They wave goodbye and Anastasia walks back towards the shop with a happy smile on her face.


	11. Chapter 11

“Hey! Wake up kid!” Ciel's eyes peek open drowsily at the sound of another’s voice, and he quickly shuts his ‘injured’ eye at the sight of an unfamiliar freckled face.

“What’s going on?” He glances around the room suspiciously and his roommate laughs, “we’ve gotta get dressed and help with makin’ breakfast, aren’t ya’ hungry?”

The brown haired kid starts throwing clothes at him, and Ciel hastily shoves them on, “come on, come on, we’re gonna miss out on food if ya’ don’t hurry!”

Ciel finishes shoving his feet into his boots with a huff, “okay, I’ve finished.”

“Finally!” His roommate drags him along at a brisk pace, and Ciel shivers at the cold morning air.

Anastasia yawns and sits up from her bed drowsily. The weak morning sunlight streams in from the window nearest to her bed, warming the room gently.

A soft sigh escapes her lips and she combs her fingers through her long hair slowly. Her door suddenly bursts open, and she finches away from the sound with her hands coming up to protect her nightgown-covered body from view.

The Undertaker pauses for a moment at her doorway, and she raises her eyebrows in confusion. He lets out a small giggle at her tame reaction, “ya’ forgot to get tha’ important stuff last night!”

She blinks for a moment sleepily, after he had been deemed no longer a threat. She brings a hand to her chin in thought and begins to mumble quietly in a sleepy voice, “but I’m sure I talked to Mr. Whitten about the shipment of formaldehyde…”

The silver haired man allows the silence to drag for a moment, before dramatically draping himself onto the nearby desk chair with a long-suffering sigh, “ya’ forgot my snacks.”

Anastasia lets out a soft giggle at his pout, “I was caught up in some business with a friend, I apologize,” as the man continues to pout in silence, she sighs and rolls her eyes, “...I suppose I could go out and get you some snacks today.”

He perks up and grins, “yay! I knew I could’a counted on ya’!” She rolls her eyes with a smile and begins waving him out of the room, “now shoo! I have to get dressed, since you’re making me go all the way to town.”

He complies happily and leaves the room, humming a bit off tune all the while, “be sure ta’ get some croissants fer’ me,” her eyes roll once again, and the door shuts firmly behind him.

“T-this is what you meant when you said baths, eh?” Ciel glances around at the numerous naked people around himself, slightly horrified at their unfazed bathing.

His roommate laughs, “well it’s not nothin’ fancy,” they throw an arm around his shoulders casually, “but ya’ know, we gotta hurry if we wanna get any of tha’ hot water.”

Ciel grimaces at the thought with a slight blush, “I think I’ll pass for today, thank you.” 

The brown haired kid scoffs, “waddya’ mean! You can’t pass up a bath!” They pick up a bucket full of water nearby, “come on, I’ll help ya’ out.”

Ciel waves his hands and begins to back away with a horrified look in his eyes, “n-no really it’s alright,” the roommate grabs him before he can walk away, “oh come on it’s not that bad, now strip.”

As the other kid begins taking off Ciel’s messy clothes the boy cries out, “get off!” He shoves them away harshly, spilling the now cold water all over himself in the process.

“Wait! Smile! I’m sorry!” His roommate shouts at him in concern as he runs away, dripping with water that was slowly getting even colder.

Sebastian hears the commotion with a frown, and discreetly follows his master as the boy escapes, having seen the whole scene.

Anastasia pulls her black cloak tighter around her body. The wind gently blowing through the air was chilly, and a few stray flakes of snow were beginning to fall from the sky at a leisurely pace.

She watches them fall with a smile, not looking where she’s walking as the crowd along the sidewalk passes her by. 

A sudden weight slams into her lower half, and she lets out a surprised ‘oof!’. 

After regaining her footing she glances down at the offender, ready to be angry, “Ow…” Anastasia gapes at the other person in shock, “oh my! I’m so sorry!” 

She quickly helps the little girl up from the ground, “are you alright dear?”

The blond girl looks up at her and rubs her behind softly, “I’m fine,” the girl suddenly brings a hand to her face in shock, her curled pigtails waving wildly, “oh no!”

Anastasia raises an eyebrow and looks to where the girl is glancing, only to sigh as she sees the basket of fresh pastries she had just bought, strewn along the cobblestones.

“I’m so sorry!” The girl hastily pulls out a small purse, “allow me to get you some more!”

Anastasia waves her hands with a nervous laugh, “no, no, it’s alright my lady, it was my fault anyway.”

The girl lets her purse go back into her pocket with a sigh, and she shakes her head before smiling brightly, “I’m sorry, allow me to introduce myself,” she holds Anastasia's hand in a firm handshake with a sweet smile on her face, “I’m Elizabeth Midford.”

Anastasia smiles in response and pats the back of the girls hand with her spare one, “Anastasia, pleased to meet you my lady.” She glances around the crowded streets, “if I may ask, what is a young girl like you doing walking around the streets alone?”

Elizabeth looks away with an embarrassed giggle, “well I wanted to get away, you see,” she presses her lips together nervously, and suddenly bursts out, “I want to get my fiancé a wonderful gift!” 

“Oh!” Anastasia lets shock fill her face and she giggles a bit and mumbles to herself, “they get married so young these days.”

Elizabeth blushes, “w-well we aren’t married yet of course, but we will be soon!” 

Her determined voice makes Anastasia chuckle, “well my lady, I wish you luck in your venture.” 

Elizabeth beams at the older woman, and a voice calling her name causes her to look up at the crowd in shock, “I have to go now,” she waves goodbye to Anastasia with a grin, “it was nice meeting you!”

Anastasia waves goodbye, and as the girl disappears again, she sighs, ‘I guess this means I’m going to be out late again,’ she picks up her empty basket off of the frosted ground silently, ‘perhaps I should visit the prince again.’

Ciel shivers violently, he had chosen to hide from his roommate between two storage boxes near one of the costume tents. As another shiver wracks his body, the boy grits his teeth and grumbles under his breath, “why is it so fucking cold.”

“Now, now young master,” Sebastians teasing voice brings his attention from the glare he had been boring into the ground a few moments ago. He glances up at his smirking butler, “that’s hardly any way that a child should be speaking.”

Ciel scoffs, and Sebastian hands over the towel he had brought with himself with a chuckle. After a moment of drying himself off, Ciel speaks again, “we have to get out of here as soon as possible,”

Sebastian helps the boy into a new set of clothes silently, “of course young master,” as he takes the old clothes he smirks at the frowning boy, who was still shivering a bit, “how do you suggest we go about it?”

Ciel lets another shiver shake him and he grits his teeth before clearing his throat, “we just need to get the information as fast as possible,” he throws a disgruntled glance at his butler, “I’m sure you can figure something out,”

Sebastian bows with a grin, “of course young master,” he straightens up with a chuckle, “I already have an idea.”

Anastasia wanders the empty streets, humming a tune silently. The sun was slowly setting, and the daily pedestrians were leaving their posts on the cobbles. 

Eventually her wandering led her to the more open streets of London, and she watches a group of street urchins chase each other around with a smile. 

She stops at a park bench and watches the stars as they begin to peek from the night sky. As her eyes roam the cosmos, the moment's quiet peacefulness is interrupted by the faint sound of music coming from a distance away.

Anastasia glances over at the noise curiously, the sight of the tops of the purple and red circus tents brings a mischievous smile to her face, ‘perhaps I should sneak in, just to look around of course.’ 

She begins her journey to the tents, humming happily all the way. Eventually she passes the perimeter of the camp and begins walking past the various tents scattered around the lot.

She grins as she glances into the costume tent silently, her eyes land on a masquerade mask nearby and she heads in and tries it on with a giggle.

Anastasia studies her mask-covered face in the nearby mirror and the sudden sound of voices causes her to rip off the mask in slight panic.

“What about the circus? We have that, and each other!” A woman’s hysterical voice makes Anastasia's eyebrows raise, and her curiosity causes her to want to peek.

The crying woman continues, “listen, I lo-“ she’s cut off by a man's slight laughter, “come on Beast!” 

‘Beast?’ Anastasia creeps towards the tents opening, fully engulfed in her curiosity now. She peeks out at the two through the tents opening, a red headed man, and a black haired woman. 

Anastasia's eyes roam over the expanse of leg exposed by the other woman’s gown and her cheeks light up in fascination, ‘oh wow.’ 

The man from before continues with a bit of a sad smile, “...we can’t back out now,” he strokes the woman’s cheek, “you know, it’s not the best for your health to stay up this late,” he steps away with a blank smile, “why don’t you go to bed early?”

The woman, Beast, watches in shock as the red headed man walks away from her. Anastasia frowns a bit in sympathy as tears fall silently from the other woman’s eyes, ‘poor woman, and she seems so enamored too.’

Anastasia prepares to leave the sad scene when a sudden familiar voice freezes her in place, “my, my, how cruel of him,”

Her eyes widen as Sebastian’s tall frame stalks closer to the crying woman, “to think you almost confessed to him, so sad.”

Beast grits her teeth at the demon, fully prepared to throw a punch at him, “shut up! This has nothing to do with you!” As she lunges for him, he grips her hand and pulls the sad woman close to himself.

As Anastasia studies the slightly erotic embrace, and her stomach fills with a pit of dread, ‘no, no, I’m dreaming.’

Sebastian’s hands wander over Beast’s shapely frame, and he holds her in place as he begins to mumble sweet words to her, “why don’t you let me help you forget,” his lips come dangerously close to the woman’s throat, “just for the night.”

Anastasia swallows around the lump in her throat, and as Beast begins to give in to the demon's apt seduction, tears fall from Anastasia's eyes.

She stumbles out of the back of the tent as silently as possible, and without thinking, she ducks into the nearest tent and lets out a sob into her hands.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the half-breed,” William looks up from his book, but stops his next prepared insult as he takes in her tear stained face, “oh..”

She sniffles a bit at the awkward moment, “please excuse me,” she turns towards the wall of the tent and sobs quietly. The reaper remains sitting on his bed in silence for a few minutes, before clearing his throat uncomfortably, “I suppose that means you saw,”

She throws him a sad glance, “you knew?” William rolls his eyes, “of course, I knew that devil would do something vile eventually.”

She lets out a humorless laugh and walks towards the bed with a few tears still running down her cheeks, “you’re forgetting that I am half of a demon, my friend.”

He sets his book onto the table next to him with a frown, “I am not your friend,” a few more tears spill from her cheeks and he lets out a sigh and glances away.

A feminine cry could be heard from far away, and Anastasia chokes back a sharp sob. William cringes a bit at the sound.

Anastasia suddenly freezes as she feels an arm wrap around her shoulders, “...please stop crying..” Williams' slightly stern voice fills her ears.

She tenses in his hold for a moment before leaning into him silently, “I’m sorry, I know I must be making you uncomfortable.”

“Yes,” he lets out a sigh and uses one of his fingers to point her face towards him, “but my pride won’t allow me to leave a lady crying.”

Her eyes search the reaper's face in astonishment, and she lets out a small puff of air, “ah.”

His finger trails his way along her jaw, and she lets her lips remain parted in awe, as he wipes away the stray tears still lining her face. 

“Since you are somewhat of a holy being…” he pushes a bit of her dark hair behind her ear and inches even closer to her face with his eyes slightly narrowed behind his glasses, “I will do you this favor once.”

He suddenly plants his lips over hers in a gentle kiss, and she remains frozen for a second in shock, before her eyelids flutter closed. 

As they part, she studies his face silently, and he wipes his lips with the back of his hand with an impassive glance away from her, “..you two should be even by now,” 

Another far off cry of ecstasy could be heard in the distance and Anastasia almost cries again, but she catches herself on time. She looks down at her entwined hands with a watery mumble, “I don’t think a kiss compares to that commotion..”

His green eyes narrow at her as her voice trails off, and she suddenly waves her hands with a look of shock, “oh! I don’t mean to seem ungrateful of course, I know that was-“ 

He cuts her off with a sudden bruising kiss, and as they part again she struggles to catch her breath. The reapers hands remain wrapped securely around her waist, causing them to be pressed together, and the feeling makes a blush spread on her cheeks.

William glances away as her eyes search his face curiously, “I won’t allow that demon to be better than me.”

A small puff of laughter escapes her at that, and she quickly grabs the lapels of his coat to pull him in again as another of Beasts moans can be heard distantly.

Eventually, Anastasia's legs wrap around his waist and he tangles a hand into her hair, with the other planted firmly on the thigh pressed to his hip.

As they part once more, he takes the time to study her flushed face. The reaper shakes his head a bit and mumbles, “what the hell am I doing right now..”

Anastasia loosens her grip on the fabric of his suit and her hands trail down his chest a bit as she glances away with her eyes still a bit watery, “I-I don’t know,” she meets his gaze again, her blue eyes fill with uncertainty and she whispers, “lets just not talk about it,”

This answer seems to satisfy him a bit, as he presses yet another lust-filled kiss to her lips as the top layers of their clothes are shed, and their hips writhe and press together urgently. 

Ciel coughs from his bundled up position in bed and as the fever in his body starts to rise, the heat causes his thoughts to become a bit fuddled.

His eyes wander to his roommate, who he recently discovered was actually a girl, as they press themself into his side in their sleep.

He lets out a sigh, which is soon followed by a coughing fit. As he regains his breath, he glances up at the moonlight filtering from the tent opening, ‘I hope Sebastian hurries with that damn plan of his, whatever it was.’

The boy begins to drift off to sleep again, the heat in his body making him extra cozy to the night's chill.

Sebastian pauses his movement for a moment as the sound of a different woman’s cry of ecstasy reaches his ears. His hand remains on Beasts cold prosthetic knee, and he glances to the entrance to the tent, “...that sounded strangely familiar,”

Beast glances up at him with narrowed eyes as he mumbles to himself, and she grits her teeth a bit, “wh-why have you stopped?” 

His eyes trail back onto her face, red with lust and a small bit of shame, he smirks, “nothing,” he leans in close again and continues trailing his hands lower on her legs, “now what were you saying before that interruption...”

William clamps a hand over Anastasia's mouth to muffle any further noises. One finger reaches his lips in a shushing motion as he leans over her, “you must be quiet,” his hand remains clamped over her lips, “we don’t want the others hearing.”

She nods vigorously, her mind hazy with pleasure, and she peels his hand off with a devilish grin and a small pant, “Do you ever take off your glasses?” 

One of his eyebrows raises at the sound of her teasing words, and his eyes roam over the sight of the sudden demonic hunger in her eyes. 

He narrows his eyes at the sudden change in her, “I thought we agreed earlier that we weren’t speaking,” 

She rolls her eyes with a grin, and she presses an opened mouth kiss to his throat, her slight fangs pressing against the soft flesh, “you seem disgruntled, but I can tell you’re having fun reaper.”

He frowns a bit at her change in demeanor, but he thrusts deeply with a strange heat filling his own body.

“To think I’d be doing such a thing with a half-breed...” the reaper gets the words out between a muffled grunt, his eyes close as Anastasia lets out a demonic giggle.

Anastasia glances up at him with a sultry glare, and she whispers teasingly, “I thought we weren’t talking, reaper.” 

Her narrows his own eyes at her defiant face, and he shoves two of his fingers past her lips to silence her as he gets one sharp thrust in, “shut up, demon, I’m not enjoying this sudden change in you.”

A cry of delight slips past her lips at his change of pace, and she lets out a soft hum. He grits his teeth at her lack of answer, and her mouth spreads into a grin as she winks at him.

He glances away, and his powerful movements quickly send her over the edge, she shuts her eyes in ecstasy as her muscles flutter weakly around him.

A leftover tear escapes one of her tightly shut eyes, and the reaper above her lets out a soft groan as he reaches his end as well. 

They remain joined, and breathing heavily for a tense moment before Anastasia sits up and they separate quietly, her demonic behavior from before suddenly disappearing. 

They both fix their clothes in silence, and Anastasia stands on slightly shaky legs after a moment, “thank you..?”

William sighs as he settles back into his previous spot on his bed silently, the only evidence of their actions being his disheveled hair, “we aren’t speaking about it remember,” he adjusts his glasses silently as he begins reading his book again, “goodnight, Anastasia.”

She blushes a tiny bit at his usage of her name rather than the usual ‘half-breed’, and she quickly escapes the tent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I tell y'all that the scene in this chapter HAUNTED me until I wrote it....I hope you guys don't hate it.


	12. Chapter 12

Anastasia stumbles into the Undertaker’s shop as quietly as possible. As she locks the door the Undertaker comes from the back with a curious grin, “where’ve you been?” He giggles a bit, “don’t tell me ya’ met up with lover boy~”

A small tear leaves her eye at his teasing comment, and she suddenly lunges for him with a sob. He returns her tight hug with a surprised look, “ah, has somethin’ happened dear?”

She nods as she buries her forehead into his chest, he pats the back of her hair a bit awkwardly with his long fingernails combing through the loose strands, “do ya’ wanna tell me what about.”

Her face turns bright red at his question, and she straightens up to look at him, “definitely not.”

He chuckles, and wipes away her stray tears with his thin fingers, “I do hate ta’ see ya’ cry.”

After a moment she loosens her arms a bit with a disappointed sigh and a small blush, “...I forgot the pastries..”

The Undertaker lets out a laugh at her attempt to change the subject, “ah~ they don’t matter right now,” her eyes become unfocused and she begins to tear up again as her thoughts wander.

“I’ll tell ya’ what,” He suddenly lifts her up and into a dancing position with a wide grin, “We’ve gotta dance until ya’ feel better, so ya’ stop cryin’!”

He begins swinging them around the room, humming a joyous tune all the way with a grin on his face. She goes along with it, a bit slower than usual thanks to her slight soreness, and she huffs out astonished laughter at the surprising amount of grace in his movements.

Her quiet giggling makes him slow down after a moment with a grin of his own, “are ya’ feelin’ better now dear?” 

She nods, her eyes still a bit heavy with unshed tears, “I am very tired though,” he lets her hands go with a dramatic bow, and as he straightens up he grins at her, “then I guess it’s goodnight milady.”

Sebastian returns to his tent in silence some time later, and a sudden onslaught of lust filled energy hits him as he steps into the makeshift room.

He raises his eyebrows at his roommate, who sits silently reading a book in his own bed. Sebastian lets out a chuckle as he takes in Williams slightly disheveled hair, “did you somehow gain a lover, my icy friend.”

William glares at the demon, “Don’t call me friend,” he pushes his glasses up as his gaze falls to his book again, “and no I didn’t.”

Sebastian rolls his eyes in disbelief, and begins to climb into his bed to wait for morning. Only to freeze in place when he sees a basket full of pastries by the end of the bed, along with a familiar black cloak folded neatly below it.

“Did miss Anastasia visit,” he picks up the cloak and throws a suspicious glance towards the silent reaper.

“I sent her away,” he throws a disapproving glance at the demon, “although I’m almost sure she saw your little affair, considering that she left her things like that.” 

The reaper sighs and sets his book onto the bedside table, “now I’m tired of waiting, please refrain from moving from your bed for the night.”

Sebastian sets the cloak back into its folded position with a suspicious hum, and heads up into his own bed to wait for morning while the reaper sleeps.

Ciel wakes as a harsh cough escapes his throat, “good morning young master,” his eyes open at the familiar voice of his butler, “Sebastian..?”

The demon smiles at his hoarse voice, “have a drink of water,” Ciel sits up and takes the glass silently.

“We needn’t remain here any longer young master,” the butler bows with a hand on his heart and he looks up with a small smirk, “I’ve gained all the information we need.”

The boy raises an eyebrow at him over his glass, and as he gives the empty cup back he sighs, “then we should leave before she gets back,” his eyes roam over the empty bed beside himself and Sebastian chuckles, “I shall refrain from telling Lady Elizabeth that you’ve shared a bed with another lady.”

Ciel blushes at the devil's statement with another cough, “just get me out of here you fool.” Sebastian picks him up with a grin at his bashfulness, “of course young master.”

“Ciel!” The Prince’s high pitched cry makes the boy grimace, and the prince quickly tackles him into a large hug, “I’ve missed you so! Miss Anastasia came to visit and she taught me to play chess, so now you must play with me!”

Ciel waves the boy off weakly as another cough wracks his frame. Sebastian throws the boy a slightly concerned look, and Prince Soma lets him go with a worried glance, “Ciel! Are you sick?”

Ciel grits his teeth, “no! I’m perfectly fi-“ another bout of coughing rips through him, and he grabs his throat with a grimace.

Agni approaches with a worried expression, “perhaps you should rest master Ciel.” 

Ciel huffs and stands up straight again with an annoyed expression, “I told you already I’ll be fine,” he begins to walk upstairs, with Sebastian trialing quietly behind him, “I’ve got things to do today so be sure to-“ another violent cough, “-be sure to stay out of-“ he stops in his tracks, gripping the railing of the stairwell, “-to…” 

“Young master!” Sebastian catches the boy as he suddenly collapses. Prince soma slaps his hands over his mouth and rushes over, “oh no! He’s collapsed!!” 

Sebastian grits his teeth, Agni comes closer as well and presses a hand to the boy's forehead, he gasps after a moment, “he’s got a bad fever!”

Prince Soma looks up at Sebastian with tears practically falling from his eyes already as he panics, “what do we do?!”

The butler stands and lifts Ciel into his arms, “at the very least, we must get the young master to his room for now.” The two Indians nod and they all head up the stairs, and into Ciel's room.

“Why don’t we try feeding him something?” The Prince nervously offers an idea after a few moments of the trio studying the younger boy's pale face in silence.

Agni quickly nods at the prince’s suggestion, “I’ll go get some curry!”

Sebastian stops him with an unsure look, “I don’t know if the young master is capable of eating something like curry right now.”

Agni glances at the passed out earl and nods grimly. Prince Soma sniffles as his eyes fill with tears again, “then what are we supposed to do?”

Agni places a comforting hand on his prince's shoulder with a sad expression. Sebastian sighs as he looks at his master again, “I must admit, I don’t fully know what to do in this situation,” he thinks for a moment, before turning to the Indian butler, “Agni, I need you to do something…”

Soft humming fills the Undertakers ears, and he studies his assistants face silently from across the room. The tears in her eyes from the night before had left them slightly reddened, and he had caught her staring off into space a few times during the slower parts of the day.

She finishes her sorting of the bookshelf to her left with a soft sigh, and he frowns a bit at her sad demeanor.

The shop door suddenly bursts open, and the bell jingles wildly above it. Both Anastasia and the Undertaker jump a bit in surprise, and Anastasia speaks first, a bit breathlessly, as her eyes land on the newcomer, “Agni!”

The Indian man in the doorway looks as though he had run the whole way, and his eyes were beginning to brim with tears, “Miss Anastasia! You must come quickly,” 

He slaps his hands together and presses them to his forehead as he tightly clamps his eyes closed, “Ciel is horribly sick!”

“What!” The Undertaker studies the man silently as Anastasia exclaims in shock and gapes at him, “what do you mean?”

Agni looks up at her with fear filled eyes, “we don’t know how to fix it, so Mr. Sebastian-” her face drops into a small grimace at his name, and the Undertaker raises his eyebrows curiously, “-sent me to get you!”

Anastasia wrings her hands in her apron for a moment, unsure, and quickly grabs her coat from beside the door, “Undertaker,” she throws him a determined glance as she throws the apron off, “I’ll be home when Ciel is better.”

He nods and smiles at her, “just remain safe ma’ dear,” he shoos her out the door with a smile, “make sure ya’ save tha’ little earl, I’d hate to live my life without his stories!”

She puffs out a small laugh at his usual absurdity, and Agni quickly drags her out of the shop in a panic.

Sebastian presses a hand to Ciel’s sweaty forehead with a small concerned frown as the boy groans a bit in his sleep. The bedroom door opens with a loud thunk, and he glances over at the intruder.

“I’ve brought her!” Agni stands in the doorway, with a slightly bewildered Anastasia held out in front of him.

She glances away from the demon awkwardly, a small pit forming in her stomach, and he nods at Agni, “thank you my friend.”

Prince Soma springs up from his seated position beside Ciels bed, and quickly grips the woman in a tight hug as Agni lets her go, “oh thank shiva! I was so worried,” he puts his hands together as though praying to her, much like Agni had before, “please save Ciel!”

Anastasia brings the prince to a standing position with a nervous laugh, “I shall see what I can do,” she glances up at Sebastian with a focused gaze, “tell me all that has happened.”

“He got caught in the cold while we were-er- out,” he avoids saying what actually happened in front of the two Indians and she rolls her eyes slightly as she presses a hand to the boys forehead, and Sebastian continues with a small frown, “he developed a rather violent cough, and a fever.”

She hums slightly in response, and studies the boy's pale face, her fingers brush over his flushed cheeks, “I’m presuming he passed out?” 

Prince soma nods vigorously from the opposite side of the bed and Sebastian sighs, “he simply collapsed.”

A rattling breath escapes the sleeping earls throat, and Anastasia sits down onto the edge of the bed softly, “it sounds like a severe asthma attack,” she throws a glance at Sebastian over her shoulder, “he’s probably had it since he was very young.”

Sebastian rests a finger on his chin with a slightly perturbed expression as he studies the earls face, “the young master never told me of such an illness.”

She sighs and brushes Ciels bangs off of his sweaty forehead silently, “in any case we must nurse him back to health.” 

She begins rolling up her white sleeves, and gestures to the three men in the room, “we need a bowl of cold water and towels,” the prince and Agni both nod in a similar fashion and fly out of the room.

She chuckles a bit at their enthusiasm and begins fully covering Ciel with the thick blankets, she throws a glance at Sebastian over her shoulder, “some medicine would also help.”

Sebastian raises an eyebrow at her slightly cold treatment, and his lips part as he goes to say something. His voice is interrupted by the Prince bursting into the room, with a large bowl of water in his arms.

A bit of it sloshes onto the floor, “I’ve got water!” The prince hurriedly places the bowl on the bedside table, and Anastasia chuckles at his enthusiasm once again as she settles into the chair next to Ciels bed.

Agni comes in a moment later with a few small towels bundled into his hands, “I’ve found the towels,” 

Anastasia grins and takes them with a smile, “good, now we can cool him down a bit.”

Sebastian clears his throat a bit, “what should I make for lunch then?” 

She dunks her hands into the bowl of water and thinks for a moment, “perhaps a simple porridge and herbal tea would be best for now,” she presses the wet towel to the boys forehead and her voice softens, “we don’t want him rejecting any food at the moment.”

Sebastian prepares to leave the room when her voice stops him, “Sebastian,” they face each other, her cheeks redden a tiny bit and she glances away, “some honey would also be good, if you’ve got any.”

He nods with a small grin, and as he leaves the room Anastasia lets out a sigh. The boy shifts a bit in his sleep and she tosses a glance up at the prince, who watches with an extremely concerned expression.

She smiles softly, “Prince Soma,” the Indian boy looks up at her expectantly, with some concern still in his eyes, “why don’t you read him something, I’m sure it would help.”

The prince grins and nods vigorously, “come Agni! We must find a book!” He shoots out of the room with Agni hot on his heels, and grinning softly at his prince's happiness.

Sebastian returns to the room shortly afterwards with a jar of honey in one hand, and a bottle of medicine in the other. Anastasia lets out a soft hum, “perfect, when he wakes up we can give him some.”

Sebastian sets them both next to the bowl of water silently, “you seem different my lady,” his mumbled words draw no response out of her, and the only sound in the room is the gentle sloshing of the water as she fixes a new towel.

“I don’t know what you mean.” She responds just as quietly and he lets out a huff in disbelief. The butler leans in close to her from the side facing away from Ciel, “you smell of reaper my lady,” she freezes for a moment as he smirks over her shoulder.

She leans backwards a bit and looks him in the eye with a calm smile, “and you smell of a circus rat, how silly we must seem!” His eyes widen in surprise and he studies her dangerously sharp eyes with his lips parted. The two Indians burst into the room, and Sebastian quickly straightens up.

Prince soma holds up a book as though it’s a prized animal he had just killed, “I’ve found a book!”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I didn't even realize that I hadn't updated yet. Whoops, anyways enjoy!

Ciel wakes up to the sound of a woman’s soft humming filling his ears. He cracks open his eyes slowly after a long moment, and a puff of air escapes his lips.

The humming stops at his stirring, a gentle voice speaks, “ah, you’re finally awake little earl,” he shifts his hazy gaze over to the source of the familiar nickname.

As his eyes focus again he swallows thickly around the dryness of his throat, and croaks out a question, “Anastasia, why are you here?”

She merely smiles at him and holds out a spoon of suspicious looking liquid, he grimaces a bit at the sight of it as he begins to sit up, “what the hell is that?” 

She lets out a laugh at his hoarse voice, “it’s honey,” he squints at it in suspicion, and she rolls her eyes, “it’s also a bit of medicine,” 

He glances around the room, “where is Sebastian?” She forces him to take the spoon before answering, much to his chagrin, “he’s busy making dinner at the moment.”

He swallows the honey-medicine concoction with a slight grimace, and Anastasia grins a bit before handing him a glass of water, “poor Prince Soma was so worried,” she throws a glance at the passed out prince with a half finished book in his hands, and Agni asleep at his side, “he stayed up practically all afternoon reading to you.”

Ciel settles back into bed with a slight cough, “what a fool.” Anastasia smiles in response and places the cup down onto the bedside next to an empty bowl of food.

He feels his stomach growl a bit at the sight of it and he clears his throat with an embarrassed blush, “what’s for dinner then?”

She helps him settle back under the covers, “just soup, I don’t want you eating anything excessive right now.”

He hums in response and begins to close his eyes tiredly. After a moment Anastasia softly speaks again, “how did you manage to have an asthma attack this bad.”

He peeks an eye open at her question, and he mumbles sheepishly, “I didn’t think it would ever get this bad..” 

She raises her eyebrows and he glances away, “why didn’t you tell Sebastian you had asthma, it is his job to keep you safe is it not?”

Ciel rolls his eyes and looks back up at her, “I don’t want him coddling me,” he shivers as he imagines his butler being caring, “that would be extremely strange.”

Anastasia lets out a chuckle, and the bedroom door clicks open. They both glance up as Sebastian walks through with a tray of food, “ah, you’re finally awake young master,” he places the tray on the boy’s lap, and Anastasia quickly moves towards the prince and Agni.

Ciel raises an eyebrow at Anastasia's sudden invasive movements. Sebastian continues speaking, ignoring the woman’s cold attitude, “we almost thought we’d lost you.”

The boy lets out a snort at that, “you won’t get rid of me that easily,” the butler smirks a bit, and Anastasia wakes the prince up with a gentle shake to his shoulder and a call of his name. 

The Indian boy shoots up from his slumped over seat, “is Ciel dead!?” Agni wakes up at the princes shouting, and glances around the room in a bewildered fashion, “Ciel died?!”

Anastasia lets out an astonished puff at the prince's energy, “no prince soma, he just woke up.” The prince's eyes spring with happy tears at the sight of Ciel, and he suddenly grips the smaller boy in a tight hug, just barely missing his soup, “I’m so happy!”

Agni stands from his chair with a worried expression as he glances over Ciels own annoyed face, “ah! Prince Soma, perhaps you should let Ciel rest, he is still a bit weak.” 

The prince lets go of Ciel with a surprised gasp, and the earl rolls his eyes at the mention of ‘weak’. Anastasia throws an amused glance at Ciel, before addressing the prince and Agni gently, “why don’t you two go to sleep in a real bed and let Ciel rest for a bit longer?”

Sebastian gestures to the door with a close eyed smile, “I shall assist you two, if you don’t mind.” 

The prince nods solemnly, with Agni by his side, and Ciel tosses Anastasia an appreciative glance. The two Indians leave the room with Sebastian in tow and Anastasia settles back into her chair, with Sebastian gone.

Ciel eats in silence for a moment, “Anastasia,” she glances up at him with a small ‘hmm’, “I was wondering, how did you come to work for the Undertaker,”

She blinks in surprise at his sudden questioning, “well, I met him during a difficult time in my life,” her eyes gloss over a bit as she reminisces, “I was running from reapers and Angels alike back then,”

She chuckles and throws him a glance, “they figured I was too ‘unholy’ to be kept alive,” he raises an eyebrow at this, and she continues with a sentimental smile, “I was running the streets of London and happened to hide in the Undertaker's shop by chance,” a small chuckle, “he took one look at me and said ‘I suppose you’ll do’ And I’ve been his assistant ever since.”

Ciel gapes at her a bit in disbelief, “you mean, he didn’t question why you were hiding in his shop?” 

Anastasia shrugs, “I suppose he didn’t care,” she grins at the boy with a wink, “besides the Undertaker is a bit of a strange man anyways.”

Ciel hums a bit at that, “I suppose that’s true enough,” he finishes his soup in silence, and after a moment of the quiet, he glances at the woman again, “would you..maybe, like to work for me instead?”

“Huh,” she blinks at him again, and he huffs out a laugh, “I said, would you like to work for me.”

Her mouth hangs open and he continues to fill the silence, “I think you’d be a valuable addition,” he pats his chest a bit, “you’ve managed to nurse me back to health,” he rolls his eyes and begins to mumble, “it’s not like Sebastian or those three could do that.”

She lets out a tiny chuckle after his rambling ends, “I will have to think about it little earl,”

He nods at that and she picks up the earls tray from his lap with a smile, “I’ll be back in just a moment.” 

The bedroom door closes behind her with a barely audible click, and a sigh escapes her lips as she studies the carpet for a moment, lost in thought.

“Will you take the offer my lady?” Sebastian's whispering voice beside her causes her to jump a bit, and she tosses him an annoyed glance, “that is my business.”

He chuckles at her cold nature, and gestures to the tray in her hands, “would you like some help with that?”

She turns away from him and begins walking down the hall and towards the kitchen, “no, I can manage,”

He catches up to her in a few steps with a smirk on his face, “then I shall accompany you.” 

She ignores him in silence, and they make their way downstairs. Sebastian fills the silence once again, “I never would have guessed that was the story as to how you became an Undertaker's assistant my lady,” 

She rolls her eyes at his words, “Ah, so you heard?” The butler’s lips curl up into a small smile at her unamused words, “of course,” He holds the kitchen door open for her, and glances down at her with a grin, “being hunted because you’re an ‘unholy being’, I must say it sounds very exciting.”

She rolls her eyes at his humorous attitude, “it’s not exactly ‘good’ for an angel to fraternize with a demon you know," her words suddenly become quiet, and she fiddles with the edge of the tray with her nails, "so I must have been the product of the worst sin,” she sets the tray down on the counter silently at this, and the demon pauses for a moment at her sad tone, before leaning in close with a smirk, “is that why you no longer wish to ‘fraternize’ with me my lady?”

A snort escapes her lips, and she turns away to begin washing the dishes, “no,” her eyes bore into his own as she glances over her shoulder coldly, “it’s because you ‘fraternized’ with some woman behind my back.”

She returns to her dishes silently, and Sebastian steps away with a small ‘ah’, “my lady, I had to do that, my master needed information,” he attempts to place a hand on her waist, “you must understand,” she uses an elbow to gently push it away, continuing her work on the dishes diligently.

He lets out a small chuckle, “so I suppose the reaper was right in saying you were upset,” she ignores the butler, and he smirks at her stubborn attitude, “well my lady, we did get even did we not?”

Her cheeks redden at his reference, and she silently dries her hands off with a towel nearby, facing away from the demon. 

“And since we're even,” Sebastian wraps an arm around her waist, she throws him a slightly angry glance with pink cheeks and he continues in a mumble, “I would like you to know that I wish to possess you completely,”

She feels her cheeks darken a bit at that proclamation as her eyes widen. He takes one of her dried hands and kisses the back of it with a smirk, still holding onto her waist with the other hand as he whispers, “allow me to possess you. Say you’ll be mine my lady,” 

Anastasia's eyes dart around his face as his hand tightens on her waist a bit. She pulls away after a moment with a cold expression, and a bit of color still on her cheeks, “I will not be an object for you to ‘possess’,” she snorts a bit at the idea, “nor will I subject myself to a competition with others for your affections,”

Sebastian raises his eyebrows at this with an astonished grin, she bows to him a bit, “goodnight Sebastian, I’m heading home,” she turns away, only to stop at the entrance and glance back at him calmly with sharpened eyes, “tell Ciel I said I’d think about what he asked.”

His gaze follows her out of the room in silent astonishment, and a small puff of laughter slips past his lips as the door shuts behind her with a soft click. His eyes land on the discarded dish towel from earlier, and he shakes his head with a grin, 'must you make it so difficult for me my lady?'

Anastasia returns to the Undertaker’s shop a bit pensively, “Undertaker, I’m back!” The grey haired man peeks his head from the back as she locks the front door, “well ‘ello,” he grins at her, “can I assume tha’ earl is fine now?”

She smiles a bit in greeting, and settles into a chair nearby with an exhausted sigh, “yes, he should be alright after some rest.”

He regards her for a moment with a frown, “but you still seem a bit upset my dear,” she frowns, her hand comes up to rub her temple, and she speaks after a moment, “the little earl seems to want to have me in his employment.”

The Undertaker lets out a giggle at this, and leans in close, “well, what did ya’ say?” She throws him a bewildered expression, “are you not concerned that I might be leaving?”

He waves one of his large sleeves at her, “I would be awlright wit’ it,” he grins, “besides, they jus don’t die like they used ta’, I don’t really ‘ave any jobs for ya’ ta’ do nowadays,” 

She gapes at him in shock and he continues happily, “an’ I don’t want ya’ to get bored ‘ere with me,” he throws her a more serious glance, “don’t you think it’s time for a bit o’ change my dear?”

She thinks for a moment in silence, before mumbling in a defeated manner, “I suppose I have been getting a bit restless lately,” he nods vigorously in agreement, and her face falls sadly, “but I don’t know if I’m ready to leave here yet,”

He shrugs carelessly, and pats the back of her hand comfortingly, “then take some time ta’ think about it,” the silver haired man begins to walk away with a dramatic yawn, “well, I’m tired, g’night!”

She watches him go with an amused smile at his flippant nature, and a forlorn sigh escapes her lips as her eyes roam over the familiar interior of the shop, ‘could I really bring myself to leave this place?’


End file.
